hp characters read the hp books
by MonkeyDLuffy1512
Summary: the hp characters find the books and read them. rating m for swearing, child abuse, rape. book readings with a twist. it is the same story as the last reading story, with some minor changes. hope you like it.
1. prologue

Prologue

Albus Dumbledore sits in his office, signing some papers. He is the Headmaster of Hogwarts, a magical school for witches and wizards. His familiar, Fawkes, sits on his perch and is looking at the Headmaster. Albus wonders what things this year were coming to bring, it would be the third year of Harry Potter and his first two years weren't boring.

Suddenly is there a blinding white light in the room. Albus blinks and sees seven books laying on his desk. He gets his wand and performs some spells to determine whether the books had dark magic in them. He finds nothing. He looks at the books and sees that the books are about Harry Potter.

He reads the titles: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Then appears a note.

_Dear Albus Dumbledore,_

_I __am__ a friend. I want to prevent the second war__ with__Voldemort__ and save a lot lives. I bet you are thinking where are you talking about? I will explain. I am from the future. In this future is Voldemort dead, but at the lost of many lives. Lives that must be saved. I have sent you seven books about the life of Harry Potter. Two have already taken place and the other 5 are from the future. Read them with a select Group of people I will name. These people are Albus Dumbledore(you), Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Pomena Strout, Filius Flitwick, Rubeus Hagrid, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, all the other Weasleys, Draco Malfoy, Madame Pomfrey, the Minister Cornelius Fudge, Amelia Bones, Mad-eye Moody and Nymphadora Tonks. Everything will become clear. Save the future and save innocent lives._

_From_

_JSP, ,TRL,SM,RW_

_P.S go to the seventh Floor to the tapestry from Barnabad the Barmy teaching trolls ballet. The entrance is opposite of this tapestry. It is the room of requirement_

Albus reads this note a few times and checks this with spells. The note is real and it comes from the future. He calls some house elves and tells them to get the people from the note and lead them to the seventh Floor. He takes the books and goes to the seventh Floor. After 20 minutes is everybody of the note there and suddenly appears there a door. Albus opens the door and everybody follows him in to the room. There are couches and chairs in the room and everybody goes to sit.

Albus clears this throat and says " you are wondering why I have called you here? This morning I received seven books about the life of Harry Potter" "what?" says everyone, but Albus goes on "I also received a note from a person from the future. It said to read the books with you, so I want to read the books with you." When he is finished he is meet with a lot of protest. The most don't want to be here and listening to a book. The minister and Amelia Bones are getting up and want to get out of the room when suddenly another note appears. It says

_Hello everybody,_

_When you read this note, it must mean that everybody from the last note is there and some people are trying to get away. I have news for you. That is not going to happen. You will listen and you will change the future. The room will provided you with anything: food, drinks and a place to sleep. Oh, for I forget, the time in the room is stopped, so when you have finished the books, it's the same day and time when you arrived in the room._

_Have fun reading_

_JSP and ASP_

The minister and Amelia Bones go back to their seats. Albus takes the first book and reads the title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He begins to read the first chapter **the boy who lived.**


	2. Chapter 1: the boy who lived

**"Chapter One," "The Boy Who Lived."**

Harry groaned lowly, why does it have to go about me?"

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,**

Harry groaned, "why does it have to go about them?

**of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal,**

Harry snorts

**thank you very much.**

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

Harry snorts- that was a truer statent if he had ever heard one. Everybody heard Harry's retort. Molly turned to look to him. It could only been her instincts as a mother, but she didn't think that Harry was treated very well at home. He was wearing old clothes and was dirty, like he had worked in the garden for hours.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What is a drill?" asks Mr Weasley. Hermione answers "It is a muggle tool for making holes in a variety of materials." "oh"says Mr Weasley.

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.**

"What a lovely picture is that!" says Fred and George. They had the pleasure to meet this man last summer when rescuing Harry

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

"So you have a walrus and a horse as family? I wonder what for son they have" says George and soon almost everybody laughs. Severus couldn't help but feel uneasy. It sounded like Petunia… Wasn't the boy sent to live with this woman?

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

Suddenly begins Harry to laugh. Ron and Hermione look at him and ask what there is wrong. " Dudley ,, hahah,, small hahah" and then begin Hermione and Ron also to laugh. It takes 10 minutes to calm them down enough to let Albus continu with the story.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"AND WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE POTTERS? YOU-BLOODY-ARSE-OF-A-HORSE" shouts Remus. Harry looks to the man. "did he know my parents? Maybe he will tell me about them" thought Harry.

Severus Snape was cursing under his breath. He wanted to curse Tuney.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband**

"JAMES WAS NOT A GOOD-FOR-NOTHING HUSBAND? HE WAS WONDERFUL" roared Remus, making everyone jump in shock. Harry was looking at Remus at shock, because he seems like a good man, mainly if he defended his dad like that.

**were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

"That is not a word" says Hermione

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.**

Everyone who known Lily and James bared their teeth; even Snape, but it was for lily, not for that arrogant bastard.

**The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"a child like what?" asked Molly Weasly Harry. " a wizard" this answer doesn't put many people in a very good mood.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke upon the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

"why does he done that?" asked Fred.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"those Muggles don't noticed nothing" says Draco Malfoy with a grunt.

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.**

All the children, except Harry "my mum would have killed me of I had been acting like this child."

**"Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.**

"He agrees with this behavior. This man is so wrong." Says Molly

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map.**

"Was it you, professor McGonagonall?" asks Ginny. McGonagonall gives no answer, but she has a little smile on her face.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of?**

"He can think" wonders Harry aloud "that is for the first time" Everybody stares at him.

**It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive — no,**_** looking **_**at the sign; cats couldn't read maps **_**or**_** signs.**

"yes, there are cats – says Fred

who could read maps of signs, - says George

right Professor? Say Fred and George together

"oh, don't talk anymore, misters Weasley" says McGonagonall stern.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing excpet a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"what is wrong with cloaks?" asks Cornelius Fudge. "Nothing, Cornelius," says Albus "but muggles don't wear cloaks anymore" "oh" says the minister

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.**

**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all;**

**why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak!**

"what is wrong with emerald-green? Asks Ron.

**The Nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt — these people were obviously collecting for something...yes, that would be it.**

"Yes, that's exactly it." Bill said, raising this eyebrow.

"Aww, I was gonna say that." George pouted.

Bill sighed and said, "Act you age."

**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

"so, this mind- says Fred

Doesn't have a lot of options? Says George

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped over-head.**

"what is wrong with them?" asks Mr Weasley "it will be explained in the next line, Arthur" says Albus smiling

**Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime.**

"oh" says Mr Weasley

**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people,**

**he made important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

"what a lovely man is this, don't you agree Gred, says George. "I agree completely, Forge, says Fred

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought that he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road**

"WHAT?" shouts Harry

**to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"oh, the World is back to normal" says Harry

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyes them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single single collecting tin.**

"No?" most of the Weasley's, Hermione, Neville and Tonks said sarcastically, while Molly and Arthur give their children a stern look

**It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard—"**

**"—yes, their son, Harry—"**

Severus groaned to himself. Of course it had to be _that_ day…

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead.**

"One could only hope." Ron mummbled to himself, he had heard the stories from Harry and had come to save him last summer when he was looked up in his room. No one but Remus heard Ron's remark, and he couldn't help feeling he wasn't going to like this family very good.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking...no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name.**

"what does he mean? Isn't Harry the only Potter?" asked Ginny confused. Hermione answered "in the Muggle World is Potter a very common name." "oh"

**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew **_**was **_**called Harry.**

"He doesn't know your name?" Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Remus, Amelia Bones and Tonks asked. Severus blinked, he hadn't expected that.. but surely the boy's uncle knew his name now, this was the past after all. Harry was locked in this thoughts. He was thinking at all the names this uncle called him, he didn't know this own name until he was 6 years old. Before that he was always Boy, Burden of Freak.

**He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"who would name their child Harvey Potter" whispered Neville

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her— if he'd had a sister like that...**

"There was nothing wrong with Lily" all the teachers who taught the bright witch shouted. Remus growled, he couldn't take all the insults over his best friends.

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o' clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

"I feel sorry for that person" said Harry. His uncle was very big and that must have hurt.

**"Sorry,"**

"He knows that word?" snorted Harry. The teachers and Amelia were developing a very bad feeling.

**he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a Violet cloak.**

**He didn't seem at all upset as being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last!"**

**"Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

By now everybody know which day this was. The almost all the woman had tears in their eyes, the minister was shifting uncomfortable in this air, Albus and Severus sighed. It had to been this day..

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"He fit?" shouted Fred and George surprised.

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a muggle, whatever that was.**

"stupid Muggle" whispered Draco

**He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"What?" the twins were almost crying, to everybody's amusement.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw— and it didn't improve his mood— was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

The people who knew it was McGonagall, smirked once again. Minerva wouldn't dare give up easily.

**Was this normal cat behavior?**

"No," Remus said shaking his head. "But it is normal Professor McGonagall behavior."

**Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

Severus snorted. That was the best thing you could do in this situation

**Mrs. Dursley had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!)**

Filius Flitwick and Pomena Strout both said, "Worst word a child can learn" they looked at each other en laughed. Harry thought that that word Dudley most favourite word was.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

_**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight,there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls hae suddenly changed their sleeping pattern."**_

**The newscaster allowed himself a grin.**

**"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "**_**I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars!"**_

_**"Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early— it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**_

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...**

"He is connecting the dots. What smart" says Harry bitterly

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously.**

**"Er—Petunia, dear—"**

**"You haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

Remus and Severus's eye twitched. If this continued, they would pay a visit to the Dursely's. Almost all the other sat with big eyes watching the book.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls...shooting stars...and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

**"So?" Snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought...maybe...it was something to do with...you know...**_**her **_**crowd."**

"her crowd? What does she mean with her crowd?" asked Minerva to Harry. " That would be wizards and any other magical creature of thing what something has to do with magic."

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't care. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son — he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"It's not" shouted Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville jumping to their feet.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word as the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things?**

"and here we thought- begins Fred

"that the man didn't approve- said George

"of imagination said Fred and George together.

Everybody snorted of laughed at the remark of the twins.

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did...if it got out that they were related to a pair of— well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

Most people twitched a little bit.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind.**

**His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were **_**involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley.**

**The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind...**

Most people were cursing the Dursely's.

**He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on— he yawned and turned over— it couldn't affect **_**them**_**...**

**How very wrong he was.**

Harry signed.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive.**

**It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead.**

**It fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground.**

"Apparition" said Arthur.

Albus's eyes twinkled, but with a bit of sadness in his eyes.

**The cat's tail twitched and it's eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

Everyone looked at Dumbledore. He chuckled and resumed reading.

**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparking behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

Albus sighned. His nose was broken, twice. He tried hard not to think about this brother and his little sister.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

Neville asks, "Why are you in a Muggle neighbourhood?" "You will find out, mister Longbottom" answered Albus.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

"what should you have known, Albus?" said Fudge. But Albus should read further.

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, help it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness.**

"that is so cool" said all the Weasley's children, except Bill.

**Twelve times be clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement.**

**Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

Everyone, except the teachers, Fudge and mevr Bones, laughed at this. So it was professor McGonagall afterall.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone.**

**Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

Remus snorted- that was how she looked when she caught him, James, Sirius and Peter.

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"Everyone knows it is you, Professor" says Ron. Professor McGonagall gives him a stern look. He looks quick away.

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"All day?" says Harry.

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

"Harry thinks like the Headmaster" say the twins teasingly.

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no — even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window.**

**"I heard it. Flocks of owls...shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle."**

"I think you are right. He was always al overexcited." Says Flitwick and Strout at the same time. They look at each other and smile to each other.

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

Everyone who experienced the war shivered at the thought of that war.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all.**

The twins look at each other and thought "what a day the daily prophet would have. The day that You-Know-Who disappeared, the muggles discovers the wizard world." They both snorted.

**I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbert lemon?"**

" a what?" asks almost every pureblood. "it is a muggle sweet I like" answered Dumbledore

**"A **_**what?"**_

**"A sherbert lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

Everyone blinks. Dumbledore had almost said the same thing as in the book.

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for sherbert lemons.**

Remus whispered "it wasn't the time for sherbert lemons. Two of my best friends just died. Why didn't everyone remember that?"

Harry hears this and is shocked. *so this man knew my parents* Harry stands up and walks to Remus. Remus looks up to have eye contact. Harry says "did you know my parents?" "Yes" "Can..eh.. Can you tell me someday something about them? I only know how they looked and how they died." By now everyone is looking at Harry and Remus. Remus is speechless. *nobody told him about Lily and James? I have to fix this. He has the right to know his parents.* "Yeah, I can tell you about them." Answers Remus. And then something happened what doesn't happen a lot. Harry gives Remus a very big smile and a hug and says "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You so much!" Harry goes sit next to him and gives a signal that Dumbledore can read further.

**"as I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone—"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense— for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to all him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort."**_

Everybody in the room flinched, except Dumbledore,Harry, Remus and Luna

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two sherbert lemons, seemed not to notice.**

**"It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

Another flinch

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"only because your're too noble to use them" says Hermione."

**"Only because you're too — well — **_**noble **_**to use them."**

Hermione blushs, because she said the same thing as professor McGonagall.

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"oh Too Much Information, sir" say Fred and George. "Too Much"

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the **_**rumors **_**that are flying around."**

Remus sighned. *this was the reason she was there. She wanted to know if they were true. I hate rumors and especially if they are true.* Next to him, Harry stiffened.

**"You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

Harry grimaced. He hated this fame. He stopped Voldemort, but everybody forgets what he has lost. He doesn't want to be famous, he just wanted a normal family with parents who love him.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.**

Harry and Remus sighned.

**"What they're **_**saying**_**," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow.**

Almost all the woman have tears in their eyes. It was so sad. Everybody loved Lily and James. It just wasn't fair.

**He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James are— are— that they're—**_**dead**_**."**

Remus felt a tear fell down and he heard that Harry also was crying. Remus puts his arm around Harry's shoulder and gives him a quick hug. After a few minutes Dumbledore reads further.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh Albus..."**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on.**

Harry looks at professor Mcgonagall and thinks * I didn't think she cared so much for my parents.*

**"That's not all. They're saying that he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.**

Severus snorted. * this is how the boy got famous. Nobody thinks it was for lily's sacrifice the arrogant brat is alive.*

**But — he couldn't He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke— and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's — it's **_**true**_**?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy?"**

Everybody nods. This was amazing that a one-year-old baby defeated You-Know-Who.

**"It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive."**

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

Remus and Severus look at Dumbledore. * you know something, Dumbledore.*

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed her eyes beneath her spectacles.**

**Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge.**

"that is very normal" says Bill

Hermione answers " In the Muggle world have the watches numbers and not planets."

"that's weird" says Charlie

**It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

**"You don't mean — you **_**can't **_**mean the people who live**_**here**_**?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four.**

Harry smiled at this transfiguration teacher. At least she tried.

**"Dumbledore — you can't. I've been watching them all couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son— I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets."**

**"Harry Potter can't come live here!"**

Harry snorted. Dudley isn't changed very much.

**"It's the best place for him."**

Harry snorted again. It was a place for him, but not the best. It was sooner the worst place for him.

**said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything when he's older. I've written a letter.**

"A letter? YOU HAD WRITTEN A LETTER. YOU EXPLAINED EVERYTHING IN A BLOODY DAMN LETTER. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE?" schreamed Molly Weasley.

Hermione was also screaming. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? YOU TOLD SOMEONE THEIR SISTER DIED AND THAT THEIR SON SURVIVED. WHAT DID YOU WRITE? HALLO, YOUR SISTER AND HER HUSBAND WERE MURDERED, HERE IS THEIR SON." At the end she was shaking with anger.

**"A letter?"**

"ah" said the twins. Minnie thinks the same as mum and Hermione. The women gave them such a severe look, that they looked away very quick.

**repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future**

Harry looks very suddenly very sad. Remus asks what is wrong with him. Harry whispers "Everyone forgets. I lost my parents. I don't want to be famous, if that will get my parents back. I just want my parents to be here."

Remus gives him a hug and says "I didn't forget. I still don't forget what happened. I swear to you, I will never forget."

Harry looks in his eyes and sees the sincerity in them. He nods to Remus and Albus, so he will read further.

— **there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!"**

Harry sits closer to Remus and hugs him.

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember!**

"Sorry to interrupt Professor, but you just lied. I _can_ remember that night, as you will find out soon enough."

**Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course."**

**"But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

Most people were laughning at the mental picture.

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it — **_**wise**_** — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

" I would trust Hagrid with my life," says the golden trio.

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"they think the same!" yell the twins.

**"I'm not saying that his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does to — what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so **_**wild **_**—**

Draco Malfoy is laughning at the last sentence. This earns him a few glares of the most school.

**long tangles of bush black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"**No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

The most woman cooed at this and give "awwws".

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a blot of lightning.**

**"Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't.**

Harry scowls and the twins come sit next to him. George begins rubbing this back and he slowly begins to relax.

**Scars can come in handy. I have one myself that is right above my left knee that is a perfect map of London Underground."**

This sentence earns Dumbledore another round of screams. The most loudest was Harry himself. "THAT WAS YOUR REASON TO LET IT ON MY FOREHEAD! I DON'T WANT IT! WHY DIDN'T YOU REMOVE IT, WHEN YOU FIRST SAW IT!

Most people are looking at him weirdly. Ron and Hermione go to Harry. Fred and George make room, so that they can sit next to Harry. They hug Harry and begin to whisper to him. After 10 minutes he is calm enough to allow Dumbledore to read further.

**"Well — give him here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake up the muggles!"**

"why do you say that, Professor McGonagall? If the noise of the motorcycle didn't wake up in muggles, they certainly don't wake up yo the noise of Hagrids crying." Says a fifth-year Ravenclaw.

Professor Mcgonagall gives him a severe look and he looks quickly away.

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it — Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.**

"WAIT, YOU LEFT HIM ON THE DOORSTEP! IT WAS NOVEMBER! DO YOU KNOW WHAT COULD HAVE GO WRONG? HE GOT HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED OR GET SICK! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, ALBUS! MINERVA! Screams Molly.

Minerva has a grave look. "I wasn;t thinking very clearly. I just kept thinking about James and Lily. I am sorry."

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone in Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

Finally, thought Severus. I have waited years to see that old coot without that damn twinkle in his eyes.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "That's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

Remus growled. "You want to celebrate?" he asked in the most dangerous tone Harry ever heard. He gave a small wince. Remus noticed and says " calm down, Harry. I am not mad at you. I am mad at Albus. Relax, cub.

Harry relaxed and leans in Remus's embrace.

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and kicked off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of the number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry,"**

"I needed it" whispered Harry softly. Remus and Severus were the only ones who heard him. They gave each other a look which said. 'it is not good. I am not going to like this'

**he murmured, He turned on his heel and with a switch of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up.**

**One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing that he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream**

Harry shuddered. He hated his aunt's scream, especially in the morning.

**as she opened the door to put out the milk bottles,**

**nor that he would be spending the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Duddley...**

**He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"**

The whole room fell silent. Then said Dumbledore "so, who wants to read next? I think that Severus will read, won't you Severus." Snape was about to protest, but seeing the twinkle in the man's eyes, he just takes the book and goes to the next chapter. He reads **Chapter two "The Vanishing Glass"**

**(a.n note : I am not a native speaker of the English language, so there can be mistakes in the story. I am looking for a Beta who wants to check to grammar and spelling, so if you are interessed, mail me.**

**I sit in my exam year, so I won't update much. I hope a update every two weeks. Sort for this.**

**I also want to say that I don't own Harry Potter or the other characters in the books. Only the differences with the book.)**


	3. Chapter 2: the vanishing glass

**Text = book**

Text= reactions on book and normal conversations

(text)= thoughts

Severus Snape read **chapter 2 "The Vanishing Glass"**

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.**

"What it didn't – started Fred

"change, what – continued George

"BORING" – said they together.

FRED AND GEORGE! DON'T TALK ANYMORE!" screamed their mother.

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.**

**but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father,**

"What are these things?" said Mr Weasley excited. Hermione answered. "Why don't you make a list, so I and Harry can explain it to you after this book."

"Oké" said Mr Weasley and he took a quill and a parchment and began scribbling away.

**being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

"Why aren't you in the pictures, Harry?" asked Remus Harry. "I didn't like to be taking my picture." Answered harry with a whisper. Remus began to feel weird. Like his cub was hiding something and it was very bad.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

"**Up! Get up! Now!"**

"Oh, mate, I feel sorry for you. Even my mum doesn't wake me this way up. This earned him a stern look from Molly.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.**

"You must have very good eared, mate, if you can hear that from upstairs." Harry didn't say anything, he just sat there with a blank look on his face.

**He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"You have a really good memory, Harry" complimented Hermione. Harry didn't respond.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"Give the boy the chance to get up, you horse of a woman, said Professor Sprout . the teachers looked very surprised. Mostly she was the one which keep her temper and told the others to relax and not to swear.

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

**he groaned.**

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"He said nothing, you evil woman," said Hermione

"**Nothing, nothing…"**

**Dudley's birthday — how could he have forgotten?**

"Mate, everybody wants to forget!" said Ron with his hands in the air.

Molly scolded her youngest son for this, but in her heart she know that there was something wrong.

**Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider** **off one of them,**

"Why are you mentioning spiders, Harry?" asked Ron with fear in his voice. Harry paled. They would know. They want know what the Dursleys did to him. He sank even deeper in Remus embrace. Remus looked at Harry. There happened something very wrong in that house. He growled. If they hurt him, they would meet a raged werewolf on the next moon.

**Harry was used to spiders,**

"How can you be used to spiders?"

**because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them,**

"What does the book mention a cupboard?" asked Ginny wide-eyed.

**and that was where he slept.**

Everyone; sans Harry, had a expression of terror on their faces, even Severus, Dumbledore, and Draco.

"H, Harry, is this true?" Hermione asked, as Harry closed his eyes, trying to remove himself from the room, at least for a second... Hermione felt tears gather in her eyes as Harry didn't answer, and she automatically knew that this was how it was for him.

Ron, Fred, George, Percy, Ginny, Molly and Arthur were all looking at each other in horror. The boy whom was practically like a seventh son for them was treated like this and they never know. It was horrible. Who would treat family like that. Bill and Charlie also felt bad for the boy that they had just met earlier in the day, this boy was Ron's best friend, wasn't he?

Severus felt his stomach drop. The Potter brat had an upbringing like himself? He wasn't loved by his family? ...That couldn't be true, could it?

Draco was gaping. Was this the truth? Was Potter not loved by his family? He felt sorry for Harry. Wait.. once when became Potter Harry?

Tonks was fuming. She would report this to the Head-Auror, she didn't care if she was still being trained by Mad-Eye, she would do something about this, and make sure that Harry would have better living conditions. Her hair was changing from the bubble pink, it was before, to a bright red.

To say that Remus was mad, was an understatement.

He was currently glaring at Dumbledore with all he had.

"Albus," He said in a quiet whisper, which made everyone stop to listen to him. "You said that he would be safe with them."

"I am aware of that, Remus. But I am afraid that even I had no idea that this was going on." Dumbledore said, trying to reassure the werewolf.

"You should of known. Even better yet, he could of lived with me!" Remus said, losing his facade, and fast. But that was only natural, after all. The other adults were surprised that Remus had stayed this calm in general, after all, James had been his best friend, and they all knew that he cared for Harry very much.

"I have told you, so many times Albus, that I would take him! I even begged! But no. You said no every single time! And now look what happened!" Remus said, standing up to face Albus.

"Remus, you should understand, circumstances make it very troublesome."

Remus growled. He understood that completely. Ever since the law against werewolves was insinuated, he couldn't get a steady job, or take care of a child.

He sat down, still angry.

Harry looked up to Remus, after he sat down and said. "You would have wanted me?

Remus looked to Harry and answered "Yes, if the ministry would let me, I would have came and get you the moment when Albus dropped you at the Dursleys.

"Professor Snape," He said, and all eyes were back on him. "Could you continue reading, please."

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. He needed to be careful of all the welts on his back. His uncle had given him a beating the night before, because it didn't go well with his company.**

"WHAT, THEY HIT HIM. THEY HITTED THEM, ALBUS, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" screamed professor McGonagall, Snape, Molly and Remus.

Albus was looking very guilty. He never know it was so bad. He would not let Harry live there anymore. He said " It was a mistake. Harry won't go back to the Dursleys after this. We have to find a proper guardian for him and no, Remus, it can't be you."

Remus began to protest, but Dumbledore interrupted him with "You know why"

Snape began to read again.

**The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

Mr Weasley was writing like he was chased by a Hellhound.

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise — unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

"That better not be you, Harry" growled Remus

**Dudley's favourite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast**.

"At last that is something." Said Remus calming down a little

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.**

Mrs Weasley looked at Harry and said "Harry, dear, when these books are over, we are going on a shopping trip. Everyone deserve clothes of their own. Harry nodded a little. He wasn't used to so much caring.

**Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair,**

"James" said Remus, Dumbledore and professors Flitwick, Strout and McGonagall.

**and bright green eyes.**

"Lily" said the same people and Snape very soft, so that only Harry and Remus heard him. Harry was confused. His professor knew this mother?

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Vernon had punched him on the nose.**

"What? That pathetic excuse of a human hurt my cub. This is it. They will pay. This eyes began to be amber. Harry stood quickly up and stood in front of Remus. He gave him a hug and said "Calm down, it is oké, calm down. I don't want you to be in trouble, calm down, calm down."

After 5 minutes Remus began to calm down. His eyes went back to their normal eyes, but he didn't let go of Harry. He just continued holding very close.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

"You liked that, mate" said Ron surprised.

"I didn't knew what it meant. I thought it made me special, something _they_ could never take from me"

Everyone knew which people Harry meant.

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

"**In the car crash when your parents died," she had said.**

At this the adults sprang to their feet and screamed at Dumbledore. The most surprising was Severus Snape.

"ALBUS, YOU SAID THEY WOULD HARRY TELL ABOUT HIS PARENTS. YOU SAID I DIDN'T NEED TO TELL ABOUT HIS MOTHER BECAUSE HE KNEW EVERYTHING THERE WAS TO KNOW. YOU SAID HE WOULD KNOW. I TRUSTED YOU."

Harry looked surprised at his Professor. He thought I knew about mum and what was that with everything there was to know. Was there something he should have been told?

"**And don't ask questions."**

"How do you learn?" Asked Hermione.

"You do not. Every time I was better than Dudley on something uncle Vernon would hit me with the belt or his fists. So I pretended to be very stupid on school. I learned everything in the library on school in my own time.

Everyone looked shocked at Harry.

Professor McGonagall said "Do you do your best on Hogwarts, Harry?"

Harry shook no with his head "I hold back, because you will sent the rapport to them and they will hit me.

After this answer all the teachers stood up and said "Will you show us what you really can do, Harry?"

Harry looked at his friends, the Weasley family and Remus. They all looked at him with a smile on their face. He stood up and said "What first?"

McGonagall came first and said "What is the most difficult Transfiguration you can do?"

Harry thought about it and then it hit him. He could show them that. He concentrated on his body and transfigured in a little black wolf cub with bright yellow eyes and a light shaped scar on this forehead.

McGonagall looked at him surprised and said "That is very good, Harry. That is very high Transfiguration, can you change back please?"

Harry changed back and so it continued.

For Flitwick he showed a Wandless, wordless patronus charm. His patronus was the biggest stag they ever had seen and it was not silver, like a normal patronus, but was bright gold.

For Snape, he named some very difficult potions receipts out his head up, even the Wolfsbane potion for Remus and told him the functions of some ingredients, among other unicorn blood, phoenix feathers, dragon hearts etc.

For Sprout, he named different plants and their functions and the way to use them.

For Remus, he named some dark creatures and how you can fight against some. But the teachers were shocked when he told he was bitten by a werewolf. Remus walked to him and said "Is it true, were you bitten? When, How, why? He began crying "Why did this curse happened to you?"

"You are mistaken, Yes, I was bitten by a werewolf under the full moon, but I am not a werewolf."

Remus looked at him and said "That is impossible. When you are bitten, you become a werewolf"

"No, there is a way to stop the curse."

"What, How, can you do it by me" asked Remus softly.

"Yes, said Harry happily. "Where were you bitten?"

Remus showed Harry this arm and pointed to a scar. "This is where Fenrir Greyback has bitten me."

Harry put his hand on the scar and closed his eyes. After a few moments, his hand began to glow pure white. The glow began travelling to Remus. There was a blackness coming from the scar of Remus. The darkness fought against the bright white glow, but after a few minutes lost the battle. The white glow overpowered the darkness and the darkness disappeared. Harry opened his eyes and said

"You will have more power than a human has, better senses and a wolf as anigumagus, but you don't transform anymore on the full moon."

Remus hugged Harry and said "Thank You! Thank You! You freed me from my curse, thank you."

"I do everything for my real family."

"You think of me as family?"

"Yes, Hogwarts is my home and you, my friends, the Weasleys and the teachers are my family, that is if you want" said Harry nervously when he shifted on this feet.

"Yes, they said and they rushed over to him and gave him a hug, even the teachers, except for Snape. Harry walked to Snape and touched his left arm where the dark mark was.

"Do you want to remove it?" said Harry

Snape looked wide-eyed to Harry and stuttered "Can... Can you.. remove it?"

Harry looked Snape in the eyes and Snape felt his Occulemency shields fall. Harry looked through all his memories and he didn't stopped him. After a few minutes said Harry

"You are a good man, your father forced you to take the dark mark and you never wanted to do the things you had to do in order to survive , so I will remove this curse from you. Give me your arm."

Snape hold his arm out and put his sleeve up. There on this arm was the dark mark. Harry touched it and he began again glowing white. This fight was longer than by Remus. After a half hour the darkness was completely wrong and so was the dark mark. Snape fell to the ground and began crying. He looked up to Harry and said "Thank you, Harry. Thank you. I would be honoured to be part of your family."

"Of course" said Harry and gave him a hug.

The people in the room said "if we are a family, we want you to be able to call us by our first name, but only in private for the teachers, oké" Harry nodded

Albus said "You may call me even grandpa if you like"

Harry walked to Dumbledore and gave him a hug

.

"I would like that, Grandpa"

Severus took the book from the ground and begin reading again.

**Don't ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

His new family growled at this.

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

That's not going to work." Harry, Remus, Hermione, and Ron all said, before blinking at one another and laughing slightly.

George leaned in to whisper in Fred's ear. "What a nice way to be greeted!"

"Simply wonderful!" Fred said between a laugh.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.**

"James' hair was the same." Remus said, remembering the times that James had complained about his hair.

Harry nodded, he heard that so many times.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.**

"Sounds like a pig in a wig." Fred and George said in their regular unison.

Everyone laughed at that. Trust the twins to try to lighten the mood.

**Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

Fred and George blinked before laughing.

"Who knew Harry was funny!" Fred and George said, pleased that they had all said the same thing. They could still convert Harry... He had hope!

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"Not even I get that much!" Draco said, making everyone turn to look at him.

Harry walked to Draco and said "Draco, In these books you will read why I first didn't want to become friends, but now I would like to be your friend." He held his hand out

Draco looked at him and said "Oké, Harry, let's be friends" and shook Harry's hand.

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"Good idea." Ron said seriously. Food was a serious matter after all.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"**

Molly shook her head. This woman was only making it worse. It was no way to let to boy grow up. They were only making it worse.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…"**

"Oh my God, that PIG can't even count" fumed Hermione. This story was not good for her swearing.

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

Molly said "He is encouraging this behaviour, if my children had done this, they wouldn't be able to sit proper for a week." All her children paled at the thought of their mother on war path.

"Little" snorted Fred and George. They had seen Dudley last summer and he was not little, he was a pig, no a killer whale.

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.**

Mr Weasley was writing on this growing parchment full with Muggle things.

**He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figgs has broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"Did they ever call your name, mate" asked Ron.

"No, they usually would call me brat, boy, burden or freak"

At this everyone looked shocked. Everyone assured him he was not a freak and they were the most hideous people they ever heard of, next to Voldemort.

Harry smiled a little. His family was defending him. It felt right and good, to have someone to defend him and worry about him.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

Bill grimaced. That sounded like torture. He didn't like cats.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"The feeling is mutual" said Harry.

"Hey Harry, is this the aunt to blew up this summer?" asked Ginny

"Yes, she insulted my parents and I lost my temper."

"Nice" said Fred and George and high-fived Harry.

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there — or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"He is not a slug, he is a wonderful person," said Ginny and blushed when Harry smiled at her.

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?"**

"**On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

"No, that would be too fun for you, Harry!" Snape said with disdain.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"I don't know, I think that Harry would be less likely to blow up a house." George said.

"Yeah, unfortunately." Fred snorted under his breath.

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"Told 'a." George said.

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car…"**

"He's not a dog!" Ginny said, jumping up.

"I agree. I think the wackspurts have gotten them." Luna said, in her dreamy voice. Everyone jumped.

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…"**

Remus and Snape growled. " So your Uncle cares more about his stupid car than about his own nephew?"

"Yep," said Harry.

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since he'd really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"**Dinky Duddydums,**

Everyone snorted at the ridiculous nickname, and the Weasleys children began laughing.

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"She fit?" asked George surprised.

"No, she tried to, it was hilarious.

"**I… don't… want… him… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

"Brat." Flitwick breathed.

**Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother.**

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"Of course he did" muttered Snape.

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

Remus was filled with rage. "They never took him at the Zoo, after this reading, Remus would take him to everything he would go.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

Everyone growled at this. Harry said "If they had done it, I wouldn't have been on Hogwarts. That calmed the most down, except Remus, Severus and Minerva.

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

Hermione grimaced too herself. People never really believed her either, so it hurt too hear that her best friend had the same problem as her. The teachers shared a look. "Was this the reason why he didn't go to the teachers when he had a problem, he thought they wouldn't believe him."

Minerva thought. I should have believed him in their first year when they came to me about the stone. The next time I won't let go so easily.

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

"Yes, we are going to hear about your accidental magic, Harry/Mate" said Ron and Hermione at the same time. They looked at each other and blushed and looked away.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

"That's horrible." Molly said sadly. How could a mother do that to a member of her family, even if it weren't her son or not, Harry still had her blood inside of her.

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

"Was that just accidental magic?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I don't think that Harry is a metamorphmagus. I think that he would have shown signs beforehand." Dora said, matter-a-fact.

"I can change my appearance" said Harry suddenly

"What" said everyone.

"Something when I want to be alone, I change my appearance so people won't bother me so much. He concentrated hard and suddenly his hair was blue, his eyes violet, his lips were smaller and his nose much bigger. Everyone laughed at this. Harry quickly changed back blushing.

**He had been given a week in his cupboard and a beating with the belt for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

A handful of people growled at the mention of the cupboard once again.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).**

"Ew." The twins said in unison.

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.**

The air in the room tensed up. They all knew that Harry would be punished for this.

**Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

A sigh of relief was passed through the room.

_'Thank Merlin,' _Molly thought, in relief for the boy that she thought of like a son.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

"YOU FLEW?" the Weasleys asked, while everyone else's eyebrows were raised.

Severus' eyebrow twitched. Had Harry flown like Lily had all of those years ago?

Harry shrugged, he still had no clue about how that happened.

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trashcans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

"Harry, Harry, Harry **—**" George said, shaking his head.

"**—**Now we know you're a scrawny Git —" Fred said next.

"**—**But no one is that scrawny." They finished together.

Harry looked at them with a slightly annoyed, but thankful look. He could always trust the twins to bring fun in when it was needed.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"Looks like we found another person who loves Harry." Fred joked, making Harry grimace.

"… **roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

"HARRY, Harry! Why did you say, that. We have much to learn you" said the twins

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

Remus rolled his eyes. Of course flying motorcycles existed. Sirius had one. He stopped thinking, it was still painful.

"Over reacting, much?" Hermione said, rolling his eyes.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"What idiots." Hermione said, shaking her head.

"You could say that again." Severus snorted.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.**

"It wasn't bad at all. It was actually quite good." Harry said with a small smile on his face.

Remus blinked. He had remembered Lily saying something similar once when she had taken the Marauders to the Muggle world one time. 'I wonder what else he has of Lily's...'

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

Fred and George laughed. That was a spot on description and it was funny too.

Everyone else was laughing, even Draco and Severus.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him.**

The laughter was gone because of this.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

Hermione's eyes narrowed. Things were going to good for Harry.

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

Ron and Hermione groaned, Harry really did have the worst luck.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

Harry grimaced. Would Remus be scared of hate him, because he could speak with snakes?

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

Charlie huffed. That wasn't the way that you treated animals.

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

Everyone was looking at Harry.

"Only you would compare yourself to a snake." Fred said shaking his head, an amused grin on his face.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

**It winked.**

"Snakes can't blink. They don't have eyelids." Remus said matter-a-fact.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

Hermione shook her head. _'Only Harry...'_

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**

"**I get that all the time."**

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

"You're a parselmouth?" Remus asked Harry, his eyes wide.

"Yes." Harry said simply, inwardly fearing what his father's friend was going to think.

"Hm, interesting. James wasn't a parselmouth, I know that for certain. And Lily was Muggle-born, I wonder how you got the talent..." Remus said, interested.

Harry was shocked, but please to hear that his father's friend wasn't disgusted at him being a parselmouth.

**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

"**Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"Harry, did you even notice that you were talking to a snake?" Fred said.

"Yeah, didn't you think that it was abnormal, or anything." George said, very amused by this whole situation.

"I didn't think of it. Weird things always happened to me, so that's why." Harry shrugged.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.**

Severus growled out this last sentence.

Almost everyone was glaring at the book. Everyone in the room thought it was not fair. Harry was one of the nicest and kind-hearted people the most know. How is it that Harry turned out so alright, when his relatives are such awful excuses of human beings?

Molly was growling along with Hermione. If she had anything to do with this, Harry would be out of those Muggle's house as fast as possible. It was good that Albus said he was not going back to that house.

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

"Ooo, What did you do!" Fred and George said excited, Ginny was even excited.

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

Fred, George and well the other Weasley kids were laughing, while Albus was impressed.

"That was an impressive show of accidental magic, Mr. Potter."

Harry flushed a little at the compliment, while Severus also thought it.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."**

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

"Oh no..." Molly and Minerva groaned, Harry was likely going to be punished for that.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"HE'S STARVING YOU?" Molly, Hermione, Remus, Ron and Severus yelled.

Harry avoided all of gazes that he got from the room by looking at his lap, which made the whole room enraged.

Once everyone calmed down about 15 minutes later— though Molly could still be heard muttering, "No wonder why he's so thin," — Severus resumed reading.

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"Good boy." Fred and George joked.

**He whined. His uncle had given him one of the worst beatings with the belt he ever gave. His wrist was broken, his ribs were broken and his back and chest were open with belt welts. He concentrated and after a few minutes he glowed blue. His wounds were closing. His ribs and wrist were healed, only the scars left behind the evidence he ever was hurt. He thought about the scars and the scars disappeared. Harry saw it not, because he was already at asleep.**

Madame Pomfrey is shocked. The boy could heal such injuries. He was good. "Mister Potter, I want a check-up from all your injuries."

"Not necessary" said Harry

"I will tell of it is necessary, Harry" said Madame Pomfrey a little mad.

"I didn't mean it like that. I have a list right here." He pulled a list from 20 pages from his pocket and gave it to her. He whispered to her "Don't tell anybody of this. I will tell them when I am ready."

Madame Pomfrey nodded and began to read the list. She paled by even page even more than before. After 20 minutes she was done and she walked to the toilet. She needed some time to collect herself, before dealing with this. She came back after a few minutes and said "Read on Severus, I need to discuss this first with mister Potter, until I will take action."

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

Gasps filled the room, and everyone besides Harry and Hermione looked at Dumbledore with shock.

"Albus, c-could it be the Killing Curse?" Arthur said, stumbling over his words. After all, it sure sounded like the Killing Curse.

"Ah, we cannot be sure at the current time, Arthur. I believe that the book will cover that subject." Albus said, his eyes twinkling.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He could only vague remember his parents. (hahaha)**

Remus looked at Harry with sadness, and saw that Harry also had a look of sadness echoed of his face.

"Soon, I will tell you about your parents, oké?"

"Yes," said Harry smiling. ( don't worry, Remus. A photographic memory has so his good things and beside she told me everything I need to know about them, but I will listen to you. I love hearing stories about them.) thought harry

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

Remus growled and he saw that Harry was sending him a reproachful look.

"Have you seen any pictures of them now?" Remus asked carefully; he knew that he couldn't let his anger get the better of him.

"Yeah, I have a bunch. Hagrid gave me an album of pictures at the end of First Year." Harry said smiling.

Remus blinked. He had remembered Hagrid sending him an Owl asking for pictures of Lily and James. And - after making copies of them - Remus gave him a good number of pictures.

"After this is all over, I can show you a bunch of pictures of both of your parents."

Harry got a big smile on his face. "Thank you very much."

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened;**

Remus winced. He wished that he had been able to take Harry ever since he found out about Lily and James, but now, he would be able to take him, and nothing would stop that.

**the Dursleys were his only relatives. He refused to call them family. He was special, he was something different than his Uncle, Aunt ant cousin. I mean how many seven-years were...**

Severus stared in shock to the next few words and then to Harry.

"Is..Is this..is this true?" he said frightened.

Harry nodded.

Severus felt a rage, he never felt before. He stood up and screamed "THIS IS IT! I WILL BREAK THEM IN LITLLE IN PIECES AND GIVE THEM TO THE DOGS. He began walking to the door and screamed further " I WILL SHOW WHAT A EX-DEATH EATER AND A POTIONS MASTER CAN DO WHEN THEY ARE ANGRY. I WILL KILL THEM. THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT OF THEM."

Everyone looked shocked at the normally so calm potions master. Harry jumped up and sprinted to Severus. They met before Severus was by the door, Harry put his arms around Severus waist and tried to pull him away from the door.

"You can't go. You will go to Azkaban."

"I DON'T CARE. I WILL KILL THEM."

"Stop, it is not worth it."

At this Severus stopped struggling and turned around to look at Harry and said "It is not worth it? , Harry, he touched you, THIS SEVEN-YEAR-OLD NEPHEW, HE RAPED HIS OWN NEPHEW!"

At this everyone looked shocked at Harry. All the woman had tears in their eyes, and some of the males too.

Hermione's voice shook from the tears and rage " Is this true, Harry? They... he raped you."

The silence which followed confirmed it. At this most of the people jumped up, except Draco, Luna, Neville, Ron and Fudge, because they were to shocked to move. The people began walking to the door and only stopped when they could not walk further. Harry was glowing with a purple glow and said "I will not let you go, I will stop you, I don't want to lose you too, at the end he was crying.

Severus walked to him and collected him in his arms. They want back to their chairs and Severus held Harry on his lap. He levitated the book from the ground and began reading again.

**I mean how many seven-years were raped by their Uncles, only because he was a waste or a burden in his uncle's eyes and which uncles thought he was nothing, but a thing he could use for his own entertainment.**

Everyone growled at this and Severus held Harry even tighter than before. Harry sat with his face against his professor chest. He could hear his heart. It was relaxing.

**Sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.**

**A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. Uncle Vernon had given him a beating for his. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

Hermione sighed. Thank Merlin that Harry had her and Ron.

"That's the end of the chapter." Severus said, closing the book.

"Ah, it's getting late, I think we should get to bed now." Molly said, looking at the watch that Arthur was wearing.

Groans came from most of the children, besides Harry. He was glad it was over for today.

"Off to bed, go on. We can read in the morning." Molly said.

As both children and adults went into the rooms that had popped up as Molly said this, the book was left on a table, to await the next morning.

The morning came fast, and soon enough Remus came down stairs, followed by Ginny and Luna, before the next thing he knew the whole room was full of the people from before.

Dora was the first one to bring up the book. "Can we read now?" She said with a yawn, her hair a mousey brown.

"After breakfast." Said Molly

After a quick breakfast, Minerva picked up the book and said, "I'll read next. The next chapter is called 'Letters From No One.'"

**(A.N here is the next chapter. I hope that you will like it. My** **exams are coming up, so I think you will not update in a month I think, maybe even later . My exams end 30 may, so before than I think I won't update. Sorry for this. I don't own Harry Potter, only the differences.)**


	4. Chapter 3: the letters of no one

Minerva wanted to read the next chapter, but several people interrupted her.

"First I would like to talk with Harry with some things, said Severus

"Me too, said Remus and several others

Harry went to another smaller room with Severus, Remus, Albus, Molly, Pomfrey, the minister and Amelia Bones.

They sat down and there fell an uncomfortable silence. Harry was staring to his knees. He didn't want to talk about it.

Severus began with talking. "Harry, we want to talk about the Dursleys."

Harry shook his head.

"You know that what they did was wrong and that you did not deserve that. They need to be punished, Harry and you are the only one who can do that. We will help you and you will never be alone ever." Said Remus

Harry looked up and look in their eyes. He signed and began telling his story.

How they would treat him, when he cried. How they beat him, if he was better than Dudley. How he get blamed for everything that would go wrong, even if he was not there. How his uncle would punish him. How his uncle would use him. How his aunt treated him. How his cousin beat him up, because he was paid by his parents. How they never loved him and never gave him anything. How he wished to be normal, so they would love him. How he wished for someone to take him away. How he almost killed himself a few times, because he just wanted to stop the pain.

The most people were crying by now.

Severus kneeled down and said

"Harry, they will never touch you again. I.. we will make sure of that." He pointed to the minister and Amelia Bones and said "This are the minister and the Head of the DMLE. They will help you with your case against the Dursleys. They will be looked up." He stood up and walked to Remus.

Harry looked at the minster and Amelia and said softly "Really, they will never hurt me again?"

Amelia nodded and said "I will promise, Harry. They will get what they deserve."

Severus and Remus were holding their own conversation and were just finished. They walked to Harry and said " Harry, we have a question. We know that you have been raped, but how is it that you can trust us so easily. Most kids don't want everyone touching them, if they are raped."

"She told me. She told me you would never hurt me. You would protect me, just like Sirius will."

Then from out the shadows jumped a black dog to Harry and put his head on his lap. Harry stroked the dog's fur. Everyone looked shocked at this. Remus and Severus had their wands out and tried to hex the dog, because they knew the dog was the mass murderer Sirius Black.

But their hexes never hit their target, because there was a purple shield around the dog and Harry said

"Don't hex my godfather. He is innocent. He was framed by Peter Pettigrew. He was also a animagus and he was the secret keeper for my parents. He betrayed them to Voldemort. Not Sirius. He is innocent. Don't hurt him, please." He looked up with tears in his eyes.

Albus said

"If he is innocent, we will test him on veritaserum and discover the truth. It would be best if you don't fight us, Sirius. So Severus have you some veritaserum?"

"It's not necessary, Headmaster. I have veritaserum." And he took a little bottle out of his pocket. He gave it to Severus, so he could confirm it and he nodded. It was veritaserum.

" Sirius, can you change back for me? I promise nobody will hurt you." Said Harry

The dog looked at harry and soon began to change into a man. When Sirius was done with changing, it was clear to anyone the man could not fight anyone. He fell then also to the ground, because he didn't have the energy to stand up straight. He was skinny, with his black hair now duff, his eyes looked haunted and he had some wounds up his body. Harry kneeled down and help his Godfather to sit up. He went to stand behind up and hold the bottle for his mouth.

"Drink this and answer some questions and then you can sleep."

Sirius nodded and drank the bottle. His eyes glazed over and he was ready for the questions

Amelia said "What is your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black"

"Were you the secret keeper of the Potters?"

"No"

"Do you know who was?"

"Yes, it was Peter Pettigrew"

"Why thought everyone you were the secret keeper?"

"Because we told everybody I was the secret keeper. I and James were like brothers, so everyone, even Voldemort, would think I was the obvious choice. We thought that Peter would never betray us and that he would be safe, because I was the decoy."

"Did you kill these thirteen muggles?"

"No, I was following Peter, when he shouted that I betrayed James and Lily, made a explosion, transformed in his rat form and escaped through the sewers."

They gave him the antidote and he said

"Can I now sleep, pup?"

"Yes, Sirius." And Sirius Black fell asleep. Remus looked shocked at the sleeping form of his best friend. He was wrong. He didn't betray them, he didn't betray me. Together with madam Pomfrey he laid Sirius on a conjured bed and looked at his wounds. Madam Pomfrey had him fixed in a minute. She said

"He just need some sleep and some good meals and his body will be oké, about his mind I can nothing say, we have to wait until he is awake.

"He is fine. He has some nightmares, but who doesn't have them?" said Harry

Severus was deep in thought, when he suddenly said " Harry, you said she told you we would never harm you, who is she?"

Harry just smiled at him and said "My mum of course."

Everyone looked shocked at this. Molly said " But, honey, your mum is... ehh is dead"

"I know, that doesn't mean she is not together with me. She will always be with me." And behind him shined a light that formed the form of a woman. A woman with red hair and green eyes. Lily Potter.

"How.. How is this possible?" stammered Severus.

"It was the spell I used. The spell I used to protect Harry from Voldemort. It activated when I died. If I died, my spirit would form a shield to protect my baby boy from any spell Voldemort would use on him, even the killing curse. A part of my spirit stayed with my son, so that Voldemort's spirit wouldn't have the place to place a piece of his spirit. I told him about magic, when his _uncle_ had beaten almost to death. I began teaching him some old magic. The glows you have see around him. The white glow is defeat evil curses of scars, like the dark mark and lycanthropy, the purple glow is a shield to protect him of others. Nothing can through it. The blue one is for healing his wounds. The green glow for defensive and the red glow for offensive. I told him the magic on Hogwarts would be different then the magic I was teaching him and he needed to pretend he didn't know magic to protect himself, but he sees you as family, so it is alright. Take care of my son" and with that she disappeared.

The adults looked shocked at the place where the spirit from Lily just a second again was.

"Are we done, clear?" said Harry, after a few minutes. "I want to read the story further."

The adults nodded and wanted to walk out of the chamber, but madam Pomfrey said

"Just a moment, Mr Potter, I want to look at your scars, if I have your permission. I want to see the damage."

Harry thought a little while and then shook his head no.

"I will show everyone in the room of requirement."

He wrote a note for Sirius for when he wakes up and walked out with the adults. Everyone in the room was anxiously waiting. It was now over 4 hours, when suddenly the door opened and everyone walked out the room. Harry walked to the middle of the room and said

"Madam Pomfrey asked if she had permission to see my scars there in that room. I shook no, because I want to show all of you my scars." He put his t-shirt out and hissed in parseltongue

_Finite revealem_

When he said that, the scars were appearing everywhere. On his back, arms, chest, face, legs, everywhere. The worst one was the freak craved from his left shoulder to his right hip in his back.

The most people were crying to the sight of his body. Most people wanted to torture and kill the Dursleys for this, but Amelia said

"They will be punished by the law, but I think it is fair to say the uncle will get the dementor kiss, the aunt a life in Azkaban and the kid a new location to see if he can be saved."

Everyone was satisfied with that. Harry said

"It is time for the next chapter."

Minerva took the book and read "**Chapter 3 The Letters of no one"**

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again and could move again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches. His uncle was during these weeks very brutal with them. Almost every night he get a beating with belt or the whip. **

"He beat you every day? How long sat you in that cupboard, Harry?" asked Severus

"One month."

"How about your school?" asked Hermione

"My uncle and aunt told the school I had a episode and had to stay in a institute to recover from my break down."

Everyone was fuming about this. They had no right. Amelia and the minister were busy talking with each other to get Harry Potter so quick as possible justice.

**Harry wasn't glad school was over, because it was the only place he didn't feel unwanted, but especially because there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and the stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

"That is weird" Said Draco "That is like Goyle of Crabbe being the leader in my group"

Everyone looked strangely at Draco. Minerva read on.

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Harry Hunting. **

"Harry, what is Harry Hunting?" said Severus with the coldest voice ever.

"They would chase after me and tried to beat me if they could get me. They told me I was the prey who must run for the predators of I would be beaten."

Severus and Remus were muttering some colourful words under their breath.

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school ( But in his mind he really wanted to go to Hogwarts if he was accepted.)**

**Dudley thought this was very funny. **

**"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?" **

"Tell me, he didn't" growled Arthur

"He didn't" asked Harry

**"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said. **

"that was genius, Harry" said the twins laughing. The children were laughing and the adults smiling.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. **

**Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years. **

Remus was shocked. "Why would you do that to chocolate?"

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. **

"I am so glad Hogwarts has black uniforms- right Forge

"You are right, so glad, Gred—they bowed to Dumbledore and said together

"Thank you for not giving us a uniform like that"

Dumbledore was smiling at the twins.

"**This was supposed to be good training for later life. **

"Training to come bullies, I am sure" said Charlie.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins,**

Everyone laughed at the name. It was a good 10 minutes, before Minerva could read again.

**he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh. **

He didn't gave to hold back down. So he laughed with the others.

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. **

**It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water. **

**"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question. **

"Yes, Harry, How dare you- said Fred

"to ask a question - said George

"You know it is forbidden" they finished together.

**"Your new school uniform," she said. **

**Harry looked in the bowl again. **

**"Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

"Sarcasm won't work on tuney," said Severus.

**"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished." **

"I seriously doubt that" said Ginny

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. **

"Oh, look everyone, our gin-gin thinks like our little Harry" said the twins

Ginny was blushing so hard, her face was as red as her hair.

**He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High — like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably. **

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. **

**They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat. **

**"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper. **

Ron who had just some juice, spitted it out, when he heard that sentence "You must have read wrong, professor, the world will be gone if you read right"

Professor McGonagall just gave him a stern look and read on.

**"**

**"Make Harry get it." **

**"Get the mail, Harry." **

"And the world is back to normal"

**"Make Dudley get it." **

**"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley." **

"He better not have touched you" growled Remus.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and — **_**a letter for Harry**_**. Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. Finally it was here. His letter from Hogwarts. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives — he didn't belong to the library at last not that the Dursleys knew, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake: **

_**Mr. H. Potter **_

_**The Cupboard under the Stairs 4 Privet Drive **_

_**Little Whinging **_

_**Surrey**_

**So they were precise. He needed to tell his mother. The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. **

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter **_**H**_**. Yes it was really Hogwarts. He would finally be free.**

**"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke. **

"ha-ha, that was so funny, I am laughing very hard" said the twins.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He could not believe it. he would finally be free. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope. **

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard. **

**"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk…" **

**"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!" **

"You evil boy. It is his" growled Molly

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter,**

**which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon. **

**"That's **_**mine**_**!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back. **

"Good so boy, lose to no one. Take back your property" said Mad-eye Moody.

**"Who'd be writing to you?" **

"Only the whole Wizarding World" said Fred with a smile.

**sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the greyish white of old porridge. **

Tonks and Harry were doing the expressions. it was fun to watch to.

**"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped. **

"He is really a bad actor" said Draco.

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise. **

**"Vernon! Oh my goodness — Vernon!"**

"drama queen" snarled Hermione and Ginny.

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick. **

"if one of my children did that, I would never been able to sit properly again." Said molly angry

The children moved a little bit away from their angry mother.

**"I want to read that letter," he said loudly. **

**"**_**I **_**want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's **_**mine**_**." **

"good, fight for what is yours" said Moody again

**"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope. **

**Harry didn't move. **

**"I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

Lily's temper thought Remus and Severus.

**"Let **_**me **_**see it!" demanded Dudley. **

**"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor. **

"it's the best place anyway" said Moody

**"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address — how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?" **

"we have better things to do" snarled the minister

**"Watching — spying — might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

Amelia asked to Harry "Is your uncle very paranoid?"

Harry thought a little and then nodded.

**"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want —" **

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen. **

**"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer… Yes, that's best… we won't do anything…" **

"Moron" said most of the people in the room.

**"But —" **

**"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

"Stamp out this _nonsense_?" growled Severus.

Remus' eyes were glowing gold. Moony was back, but the strongest reaction came from Dumbledore. His magic was lashing out. Harry ran to him and started glowing purple. It formed a shield around him and Dumbledore.

After 20 minutes the shield came down and a very tired looking Harry and a some relaxer Dumbledore came out.

"Please forgive me for the backlash. It reminded me of something. I hope no one is hurt."

When everyone shook no, Remus and Severus walked to Harry and lifted him up. They took him to a couch and sat him between them in. Severus conjured a pillow and blanket and he tucked Harry in. Minerva read on.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard. **

"he fit?" asked Draco surprised

"Hardly" answered Harry.

**"Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. **

"straight to the point, good boy" said Moody.

**"Who's writing to me?" **

**"No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. **

Everyone snorted at that.

**"I have burned it." **

**"It was **_**not **_**a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it." **

**"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. **

Ron shivered.

**He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful. **

**"Er — yes, Harry — about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking… you're really getting a bit big for it… we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom. **

It is a couple of moments still, until

"A SECOND BEDROOM. YOU MEAN THAT SWINE HAD A SECOND BEDROOM, WHILE HARRY HAD TO SLEEP UNDER THE STAIRS" SCREAMED Severus

"THESE PEOPLE ARE THE MONSTERS AND FREAKS. IT IS SO WRONG. I WANT TO KILL THEM, RIP THEM TO PIECES" growled Remus.

It took several minutes for Harry to calm him Severus and Remus to let Minerva continue with the story, even if Minerva herself was fuming in anger.

**"Why?" said Harry. **

"Why did you question that? " said Hermione

"It was the first time he did something nice for me. I wanted to know the catch."

**"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now." **

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. **

The Weasleys were livid, but Severus and Remus were just scaring people with the look on their faces.

"FOUR BEDROOMS" shrieked molly, making everyone jump and plug their ears. She was loud.

It took 30 minutes to calm down Molly, so Minerva could read further.

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. **

The people in the room were saddened with this. Nobody should have so little stuff.

**He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favourite program had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched. **

"Of course, these are the only things untouched" sneered Hermione. "I begin to wonder if that fat lard even can read. It won't surprise me, if he can't."

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't **_**want **_**him in there… I **_**need **_**that room… make him get out…"**

"He needs that room? It's full of junk! I think Harry will have more use than the, the Whale!" Hermione said, standing up in her anger.

Harry and Ron were shocked to say the least. They had never heard Hermione insult a person so many times. Come to think of, Hermione never insults everyone. This book is changing her character.

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it. **

Hermione thought "You should never had to be in that cupboard. He needed just some love"

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly. **

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. **

Harry sighed. If his uncle was nice to him, he really was the meanest ever.

**They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive —'"**

"if he wanted to read the letter himself, why is he yelling?" asked Luna

"He is not the smartest on his world" answered Harry

"oh, it must be though the Nargles."

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. **

"So, Harry, you were practising for later" said Ron laughing.

Everyone looked just confused at this. What does he mean with practise?

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand. **

**"Go to your cupboard — I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley — go — just go." **

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan. **

Hermione groaned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry said, looking at her, his eyebrow raised.

"Well, Harry, your plans weren't really good in first year... No offence."

"None taken. I agree with actually..." Harry said, rather reluctantly.

Remus smiled at the exchange. "Well, it would've been the thing that James would of done, had done actually..."

Harry smiled. He still loved to hear about his parents.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. **

"You fixed a alarm clock" said Mr Weasley excited.

Harry just nodded.

**Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights. **

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first.**

"It is a good plan in theory, but with Harry's plan goes always something wrong." Says Hermione with a smile.

Harry does the mature thing to do in his situation, so he sticks his tongue out to her.

**His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door — **

**"AAAAARRRGH!" **

**Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat — something **_**alive**_**!**

"Please be the uncle. Please be the uncle. Please be the uncle" began the twins chanting.

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face. **

"Yes" the twins were dancing in the middle with each other.

"FRED, GEORGE. Stop immediately with this nonsense." Scolded Molly hart-hearted.

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink. **

**"I want —" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

" that evil man. He is really a sick man" said Madam Pomfrey.

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. **

**He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

**"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't **_**deliver **_**them they'll just give up."**

"These people are the biggest idiots I have ever meet" said Severus with a snort.

**"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon." **

"at last, she has a little more sense than that whale."

**"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him. **

"lucky for us, that we don't think like that idiots or there would be no wizards anymore." Said Draco sarcastic.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom. **

" you were becoming very creative with the letters."

Minerva chuckled. "That was my idea."

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"He is really losing it" stated Percy.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two-dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

**"Who on earth wants to talk to **_**you **_**this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"Everyone in the Wizard World" said Fred and George.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

"Why?" asked Ron

"If you let me read, mister Weasley, we may find out" said professor McGonagall sternly.

Ron turned red.

**"No post on Sundays,"**

"but we have post on Sundays" said Ron surprised.

"Yes, you have, but in the muggle world, the post is delivered with the help form people and these people don't work on Sundays. It is a free day for the most people." Explained Hermione.

**he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today —" **

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one —**

"Why didn't you just take one of the floor?" asked Percy

Harry said with a blush "I didn't think of that. I just wanted one."

**"Out! OUT!" **

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

"Did he hurt you?" asked a concerned Remus.

"No, my ribs only hurt a little, because he had broken 2 the night before."

"And that is not hurting you?" asked Remus with one eyebrow up.

"No, according to him, is it just a little corrective tap" said Harry with a straight face.

"It wasn't and they will never touch you again" growled Remus.

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor. **

**"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time. **

**"I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

"Stupid fat git" was heard somewhere in the room.

**He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

"good, it was time that someone put some discipline in that boy's head.

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while. **

**"Shake 'em off… shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

" You can't stop the evil letters from Hogwarts" said the twins in unison.

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"Poor baby, what a difficult life you must have" said Tonks suddenly, with her hair turning light blue. But then her hair turned red and she said "It is time you experience the life Harry had, you stupid pig."

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering… **

"What were you wondering, Harry?" asked Ginny

"If someone in Hogwarts would send more letters to save me"

Everyone growled at that statement.

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast( **that is not a breakfast, said Ron )** the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table. **

**"'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk." **

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address: **

_**Mr. H. Potter **_

_**Room 17 **_

_**Railview Hotel **_

_**Cokeworth **_

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared. **

**"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room. **

"What a terrible man" sighed Professor Sprout.

**"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her.**

**Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

**"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"No, Dudley, your Daddy's has gone mad a very while back" said George

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared. **

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled. **

**"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a **_**television**_**."**

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it **_**was **_**Monday — and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television — then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY" screamed the twins, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna.

"Guys, you know it is not my birthday now, right"

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun — last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. His only birthday was his ninth birthday. The day he met his mother and learned about magic and Hogwarts.**

"This year you are going to have a great birthday, Harry" said Severus with a smile.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day. **

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. **

**He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought. **

**"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!" **

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there. **

**"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. **

"And why is he so happy? That is bad. It is a horrible place to stay" said Molly

**"And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!" **

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them. **

**"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!" **

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms. **

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas.**

"that are not rations, don't is hardly a snack" complained Ron.

"That is not a good meal for a growing boy" said Molly

**He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shrivelled up. **

**"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

"I want to hurt this man very bad" said Tonks angry.

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. **

**Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"Of course" said Hermione. "let your nephew sleep on the floor without a good blanket and give your fat son the bank and the most blankets. I hate this woman."

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. **

**He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now. **

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.**

"you are too pessimistic" said Ron

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

"a good plan" said Charlie.

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

"Why is that mentioned. What is happening?" said Molly scared.

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds… twenty… ten… nine — maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him**

"do it, do it" began the twins chanting.

— **three… two… one… **

**BOOM. **shouted Minerva, so that almost everyone jumped in the air.

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"That was this chapter. " said Minerva. She looked at the next chapter and said "I think it is a good idea for you to read this chapter, Hagrid" and she gave the book to him. He looked at the title and he smiled.

He read "** chapter 4 " The Keeper Of The Keys"**

(**a.n Hallo everyone. I want to thank everyone for their reviews and I hope you will sent more. It has been longer than I thought to update the new chapter, but here it is. It is the longest ever. It has over the 7250 words. My story got deleted from , but I posted it again and there is a new chapter. I don't own Harry Potter, only the difference I made in the book. Hope you enjoy it. send more reviews, maybe I will make more chapter in a shorter time and I still need a Beta, so if you want to help me, send me a email on the email address on my profile page. Thanks)**

**p.s the sitting order is**

**On the head chair is Albus Dumbledore, on his left in a couch professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey. On his right the professors Sprout and Flitwick. On the couch next to that sits Draco Malfoy with Hagrid, next to them Severus, Harry and Remus. Next to them Ron and Hermione. Next to the couch of McGonagall and Pomfrey sits on a couch Neville and Luna, next to them, the rest of the Weasleys on a very large couch, next to them mad-eye moody and Tonks and then are the minister and Amelia on one couch on the other side of albus, so that they are sitting in a square.**


	5. Chapter 4: the keeper of keys

Hagrid read** "chapter four "The Keeper of Keys"**

**BOOM.**

Everyone jumped when Hagrid shouted the word.

"Hagrid" said Minerva sternly

"I can't help it, it must be shouted, professor"

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.**

**"Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

"Isn't everything he says stupidly" said Draco

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands – now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

"WHAT, HE BROUGHT A RIFLE**. **HE COULD HAVE HURT YOU. WHAT A STUPID MAN. HE IS THE MOST HORRIBLE, AWFUL HUMAN BEINIG ON THIS EARTH." SHOUTED Hermione.

She walked to Harry and asked " Did he hurt you with a rifle ever"

Harry was avoiding her eyes and wasn't saying anything, but Hermione had her answer. This was not the first time Harry had seen a rifle and not in the good way.

"Harry, did he shoot on you?"

Harry was now staring in her eyes and slowly nodded. Hermione hugged him and said " Those monsters will get what you deserve. Don't worry, you will be safe."

The purebloods in the room were surprised, they didn't know what a rifle was. Severus was fuming, Harry had been shot. These people were truly the monsters.

Percy asked " Sorry to ask this, but can someone explain what a rifle is?"

Hermione answered " It is a weapon to hurt someone. If you get hit, it will hurt like the cruciatus curse and if you get hurt in a vital place, you will die like the killing curse, only it hurts more."

She turned to Harry and said " Where did he shoot you?"

Harry did this t-shirt out and pointed to two scars, either on his shoulders. Hermione put her finger on the scars and traced them with her finger. "Why?" she asked when tears began to fall on her cheeks. "Why did he shoot you?"

"He was mad, it wasn't going well with his work, so he just.. he thought it had to do with me... with my freakiness."

Hermione hugged him again and said " It is not your fault."

Harry hugged Hermione back and took her in his lap. He said "Hermione, I have always loved you, will you become my girlfriend?"

"Yes" and they kissed.

After 15 minutes began Hagrid reading again, filled with pride.

**"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you — I'm armed!"**

"I am also armed. Look" said Fred, swinging with his arms.

**There was a pause. Then —**

**SMASH!**

Everyone jumped on the sound.

"Hagrid, don't scare us like this." Reprimanded Minerva.

"Sorry, Professor, but it needed to be shouted." Said Hagrid.

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"Harry, you make him sound like a monster." Reprimanded Hermione pouting. Harry just laughed at her silly face.

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

**"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…"**

"Only Hagrid" said the twins.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

**"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

"It is time someone learned that child a lesson" said Molly.

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

"That must have been a funny sight" said Fred.

"Yes, it was" said Harry with a smile.

**"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

Harry smiled. Hagrid was his first real friend. He was the best.

**"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."**

Harry smiled. That was the first time you had heard that from a stranger. He hugged Hermione tighter. God, he missed them.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

"What a coward" said Draco.

**"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

**"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant;**

**he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

"Good, it is finally gone" said Hermione smiling for the first time since the rifle was mentioned.

**"Anyway — Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here — I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

"That's nice" said Molly

"Yes, it was the second birthday cake I ever have gotten from someone. It was a very good one."

Everyone saddened at this, he was supposed to have every year a birthday cake with presents. He was supposed to be loved and not be treated like a slave.

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with **_**Happy Birthday Harry **_**written on it in green icing.**

"Eh, Slytherin colours" said Ron.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

"Manners, Harry." Molly scolded.

"Sorry, Mrs. Weasley, I was in shock. It was the shock from having Hagrid break in a door." Harry said, a small smile on his face.

"That's okay dear, just don't forget next time." Molly said.

**The giant chuckled.**

**"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

"Sorry about that, Harry" said Hagrid.

"It doesn't matter, Hagrid" answered Harry with a small smile.

**"What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

"Hagrid, don't you dare to drink in front of children" scolded Minerva sternly.

"Sorry, professor" said Hagrid softly, before he began to read again.

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

Hermione blinked. She whispered in Harry's ear "Was that magic, I thought he wasn't supposed to do magic, because his wand was snapped."

"He still have the pieces from this wand and keeps them in his umbrella" whispered Harry back.

"Oh" said Hermione and she began again listening to the story.

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.**

"Hagrid, how many pockets do you have?" asked Luna dreamily

"Don't know, many" answered Hagrid with a shrug.

"Hagrid, that better not be alcohol what you drank" said Minerva sternly.

"No, Minerva, it was pumpkin juice" said Harry.

Minerva was pleased to hear Harry use her first name.

**Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little.**

**Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

"like I would give that pig anymore food" said Hagrid

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

**"Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

"That is so true, Hagrid" said George.

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful,**

"Harry, dear, I'll make you anything you want, just tell me what." Molly said suddenly.

Harry blushed. "It's okay Mrs. Weasley, I don't want you to go out of your way for me."

"It would be no problem at all, dear." Molly said, smiling at the boy who she thought of as a seventh son, no who was her seventh son now.

**but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said,**

**"I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

"At least, your manners are getting better" said Molly

"Mum, I think it is a wonder that Harry has manners like he has, especially if you reconsider what for upbringing he had and what for examples he had" said Percy.

Molly just stared at her son.

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

**"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts — yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.**

"No" was heard throughout the room.

**"Er — no," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

**"Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"Don't apologise, Harry" said Severus "It is them, who must be sorry."

**"**_**Sorry**_**?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"**

"It was hard to pretend I didn't know anything about Hogwarts. Mum had told me a little, but not much. She said I had to found out on my own." said Harry smiling.

**"All what?" asked Harry. (sorry, Hagrid, nobody can know.)**

**"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered.**

**"Now wait jus' one second!"**

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

Everyone laughed at this. It was time that Dursleys were scared in their miserable lives.

**"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy — this boy! — knows nothin' abou' — about ANYTHING?"**

"Harry isn't going like that" said Hermione, while sitting in Harry's embrace. Ginny was happy for Harry. She had s crush on him, but he deserved to be happy and if that was with Hermione, she would accept that. She sat next to Neville. He was nice, but a bit sly. Then she smiled suddenly. She had a idea. She sat a little more towards Neville. She would give him more confidence.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

**"I know **_**some**_**things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."**

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, **

**"About**_**our**_**world, I mean.**_**Your**_**world.**_**My**_**world.**_**Yer parents' world**_**."**

**"What world?"**

"like i said it was very hard to pretend not to know anything about the Wizarding world."

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

**"DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble."**

"It was time someone taught that man a lesson" said Pomena.

The twins were laughing about the word Mimblewimble.

**Hagrid stared wildly at Harry. "But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're**_**famous**_**. You're**_**famous**_**."**

**"What? My — my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"Harry, Harry Hagrid just told you that you are famous and you asked or your parents were famous?" asks Fred.

"Yes, I know what mom told me and I remember that night very well, but I never had thought my parents would be famous."

"Wait, you remember what happened that night?" asks Severus

"Yes, my dad was playing with me, making bubbles and mom was watching us. Then suddenly was there a sound. The wards were broking. Dad yelled to mom that she had to take me and ran away. He would stop Voldemort. Then the door exploded and he came in. Mom ran upstairs and I heard Dad fighting with Voldemort. Then suddenly nothing more and someone was coming upstairs. Mom was crying when holding me and saying to me that I needed to be strong and good. I should eat good, protect my friends and make fun. She told me that Dad loved me very much and she to loved me very much.

Then the door opened and he came in. He told her to go to the side, but she didn't go. She begged to him, begged to spare me. He was going spare her, but because she didn't move he killed her too and then he pointed his wand to me and laughed. He spoke the words and the curse came flying to me, but there was a white shield with a person before me, so the curse backfired, only a little bit came through and scared me. That happened that night." Answered Harry.

"How did you remember that?" asked Severus shocked

"I have a photographic memory, so I can remember almost everything what happened in my life"

The others were still shocked from Harry's story about his parents death. After a while began Hagrid again with reading.

**"Yeh don' know… yeh don' know…" Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

**"Yeh don' know what yeh**_**are**_**?" he said finally.**

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

**"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

**(**please, tell me that I am a wizard and take me away from them. Please Hagrid, save me) thought Harry.

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

**"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

**"Kept**_**what**_**from me?" said Harry eagerly. ( I am sorry for lying to you, friend, but it is necessary.)**

**"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

**"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry — yer a wizard."**

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

**"I'm a**_**what**_**?" gasped Harry. ( Good acting, Harry)**

**"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good 'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to **_**Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea.**_**He pulled out the letter and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

_**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**_

_**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

_**Dear Mr. Potter,**_

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**_

_**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Minerva McGonagall,**_

_**Deputy Headmistress**_

"Why did you give Harry the normal brief, Albus and Minerva? Shouldn't he get the muggleborn brief because he was raised in the muggle world?" asked Remus.

"We never expected that Harry didn't know about the Wizarding World. We thought his aunt and uncle would tell him about our world and so we decided that he didn't need the muggleborn brief." Answered Minerva.

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"That was your first question, Harry?" laughed Percy.

Harry did the mature thing and put this tongue to Percy.

**"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl — a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl**

"Hagrid, You don't keep a owl in one of your pockets. It is a living creature. That is just wrong." Said Charlie.

"Sorry, I was afraid he wouldn't able to fly with me, so I just took him in my pocket with me to Harry."

"Then is it oke" said Charlie.

— **a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:**

"That is very impressing, Harry" said Dumbledore. "Even I has sometimes reading Hagrid's note the normal way."

_**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**_

_**Given Harry his letter.**_

_**Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.**_

_**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**_

_**Hagrid**_

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.**

"It is then also very normal for us, but not normal for you" said Pomena.

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

**"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

**"He's not going," he said.**

**Hagrid grunted.**

**"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

**"A what?" said Harry, interested.**

**"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"That was the truth. They were true the most big and horrible people ever" said Hagrid.

**"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"**

"Harry, are you sure they didn't try to stamp out your magic" said Dumbledore seriously.

"You could say that they thought that with enough beatings, I would become normal like them." Answered Harry softly.

Again was there a backlash from the magic Dumbledore was sending out. He stood up and walked out the antechamber. The others looked concerned. Then they heard like everything in the antechamber was breaking with the noise it made. After 20 minutes, a what calmed down Albus came back in the room and sat on this old place.

"Never, will you see these _people_ again, Harry. Never." Said Albus with the coldest voice ever.

He then said to Hagrid. "read on, Rubeus, read on.

**"You**_**knew**_**?" said Harry. "You**_**knew**_**I'm a — a wizard?"**

**"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "**_**Knew**_**! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?**

**Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that — that**_**school**_**— and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats.**

**I was the only one who saw her for what she was — a freak!**

**But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

"Knowing my aunt, she probably wanting to say this for years." Said Harry sadly.

**"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as — as —**_**abnormal**_**— and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

"That is how they told you. Just like that." Said Severus furious

"Yes, I knew what really happened for all long time. But it still hurt, when she just told me like that. Till that day, I still had the hope, that someday she would tell me in a normal way and would tell me about my mother and grandparents."

"She never told you about Harold and Marie." Said Severus surprised.

"No, are these their names. I never knew."

"Oké, I will tell you about your grandparents. I didn't knew them very well, but I can tell you a few things about them." Said Severus with a smile.

Harry gave Severus a hug and said "Thank you."

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!" ( sorry, need to keep appearance, why aunt, why didn't you tell me in a normal way? Do you hate me that much)**

**"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"**

"That is right, Lily and James would never die like that." Shouted almost everyone in the room, when Harry said " unfortunately" so softly, even Remus with his ears couldn't hear him.

**"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.( Sorry, if this is upsetting you, but if you don't tell me, I can't talk about it, because you will tell people that the Durselys told me that my parents died in a car crash and then I am in big trouble.)**

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

**"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh — but someone's gotta — yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

**"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh — mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it…"**

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with — with a person called — but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows —"**

**"Who?"**

**"Well — I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

**"Why not?"**

**"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went… bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was…"**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"**Can't you write it down?"**

**"Nah — can't spell it. All right —**_**Voldemort**_**. "**

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this — this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too — some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches… terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him — an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

**"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before… probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

**"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em… maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' — an' —"**

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

**"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad — knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find — anywa…**

**"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then — an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing — he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it.**

**Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh — took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even — but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry.**

**No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age — the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts**

Everyone bowed their heads and prayed for the souls of the ones which were murdered, because of the war with Voldemort.

— **an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, Harry thought back at that day. He remembered that day very well. He saw the green light to him racing and the high-pitched laugh of Voldemort. He shivered.**

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

**"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…."**

**"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; **

So did some people. Almost everyone had forgotten that the Dursleys were still there.

**he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

**"Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured**

People growled at this.

— **and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion**

At this everyone was staring evil glares to the book so hard, it was a miracle that the book didn't burn right there.

— **asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types — just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -"**

The glaring continued.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat.**

Go Hagrid, teach these people a lesson," shouted Fred and George.

**Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley — I'm warning you — one more word…"**

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"Coward" murmured Draco

**"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them, some even this mother couldn't answer.**

**"But what happened to Vol-, sorry — I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

**"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see… he was gettin' more an' more powerful — why'd he go? Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die.**

**Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who were on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances.**

**Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.**

**"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on —**_**I**_**dunno what it was, no one does — but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

"That is true, Voldemort is out there and he won't stop on his own. He needs to be stopped." Said Harry with confidence burning in his eyes.

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.**

**How could a one-year-old baby defeat a grown evil wizard. How could he possibly be a hero? Hagrid is looking at me with respect in his eyes, but maybe I won't be good enough. I just want to be normal and maybe the Wizard World will expect me to have a specific imago. Maybe i need to change me, to help them. I don't want that. I just want to go to school and learn and found out of I can become a good wizard, someone which one would ever hurt again. I will become strong, so strong that nobody can ever hurt me again. **

"Harry, did you really thought that?" asked Hermione.

He nodded. Hermione began rubbing his back and giving him so much comfort she could give him.

**But maybe it isn't real. Maybe I can't be a wizard. Maybe is this a dream. I need to ask if I can become a wizard.**

**"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

**"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"**

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it… every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry… chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach… dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back… and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him? Was that not the accidental magic his mother told him about? So it was true.**

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

**"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard — you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

"It is my home" said Harry with a smile.

Everyone smiled to him.

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

**"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish — spell books and wands and —"**

**"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born.**

**He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled—"**

**"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

"Oh, he just had said that, Hagrid is very loyal to me and he never let someone insult me." Said Albus

"Go Hagrid, tell them a lesson which they never forget." Shouted the twins.

Hagrid was looking a bit anxious, but still read on.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER —" he thundered, "— INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE — IN — FRONT — OF — ME!" **

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. **

"What did you do?" asked George.

**When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

At this everyone was laughing their heads off. Then as one man they stood up and began clapping and cheering for Hagrid. Hagrid was blushing from all the attention he got. After 10 minutes, everyone was once again seated and Hagrid began with the story.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

**"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

At this everyone began laughing again.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

**"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm — er — not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff — one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job."**

"Don't worry, Hagrid. Harry never betrays someone's trust. He is too good for that." Said Ron.

**"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

"**Harry**" reprimanded Molly, that is a very personal question, young man"

"Sorry, Hagrid" said Harry looking the half-giant in the eyes.

"It doesn't matter to me, Harry. You solved it, so I am not angry."

At this the eyebrows form the twins raised so high, they were hidden by their hair.

**"Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."**

**"Why were you expelled?"**

**"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

**"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' doormice in one o' the pockets."**

"and that was the chapter. The next chapter is Diagon Alley. Whom of you wants to read?" asked Hagrid.

"I think Draco should read the next one"

Draco groaned, but still took the book from Hagrid's hand and sat on this place. He opened the book to the right chapter and read

**Chapter 5 'Diagon Alley'**


	6. Chapter 5 Diagon Alley part I

**Text = book**

Text= reactions on book and normal conversations

(text)= thoughts

_**Text=letters and spells**_

_**I don't own Harry Potter or any characters in it.**_

Draco read chapter 5 **"Diagon Alley,"**

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.**

_**It was a dream,**_** he told himself firmly.**_**I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard.**_

"Harry, mate, you have a very pessimistic mind, you know that." Said Ron

"If you are living with the Dursleys you can't be optimistic, trust me" answered Harry

At this his family growled loudly.( They would be punished) was on everyone's mind.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

_**And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door**_**, Harry thought, his heart sinking.**

**But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

"My dear Harry—began George

"it wasn't a dream- continued Fred

"it was real" end they together

**Tap. Tap. Tap.**

**"All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.**

"You better hurry, Harry. This newspaper owls can be very furious, if they don't get paid." Said Hermione

"You know it has happened over two years again, right, love" said Harry with a smile

Hermione didn't know what she was supposed to feel, pouting, because he was teasing her or happy that he called her love. She settled for happy and give him a small kiss on the lips. Everyone was smiling to the new couple.

**Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. He went straight to the window and jerked it open.**

**The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

**"Don't do that."**

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.**

"See, I was right"

**"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl —"**

**"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

"Oh, Hagrid, he didn't know what our currency was." Said Minerva with a sigh.

Hagrid was just smiling sheepishly.

**"What?"**

**"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."**

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing**_**but**_**pockets — bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags… **

"Why have you all that in your pocket, Hagrid?" asked Ginny

"You never know if it is something you need for in the future" said Hagrid

**finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

**"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

"Hagrid, he didn't know what you were saying"

**"Knuts?"**

**"The little bronze ones."**

**Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window.**

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.**

**"Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

"If Hagrid was getting up, why didn't he just pay the owl himself?" Ron asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"McGonagall made me do something similar. It is to make it so you get used to the money system." Hermione answered.

"Oh."

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.**

"No, not the happy balloon" cried the twins

**"Um — Hagrid?"**

**"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

**"I haven't got any money — and you heard Uncle Vernon last night… he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

Ron snorted heartily. "Yes, and I'm the seeker of England."

Charlie suddenly gasped. "I didn't know you were a seeker, Ron- oh, I mean, you almighty seeker for England." He said in amusement.

Ron's ears went red. "Shut up, it was an expression."

**"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

**"But if their house was destroyed —"**

"Harry, no one keeps their money in their house" laughed Hermione

"The Dursleys did, they were afraid someone might steal from them, if it was kept in such public place" answered Harry

"Yes, but Harry, you are forgetting one important fact" said George

"What then?" asked Harry confused.

"Your relatives are crazy, paranoid, animals, whom shouldn't be allowed to live free" said Fred

"Fred, George, don't say that" reprimanded their mother.

**"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' a sausage, they're not bad cold — an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

**"Wizards have**_**banks**_**?"**

" What were you thinking, Harry?" said Remus

"I thought all their gold was protected by some creature somewhere in a cave. Mum told me that it was very good protected and that no one could rob it, because it was so dangerous and I read on these stories about wizards and dragons and so I just assumed that?" said Harry turning red, when everyone was laughing at him

"It is not a wrong thought, cub, if you say it like that?"

**"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

**"**_**Goblins**_**?"**

"Yes, that was my reaction also, when I heard that" said Hermione excited

Harry just smiled at her.

**"Yeah — so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe — 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business."**

" Oh, Hagrid, why did you say that? Harry has both the curious traits from this mother and father." Said Severus with a sigh

**Hagrid drew himself up proudly. **

**"He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you — gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see."**

**"Got everythin'? Come on, then."**

**Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

**"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat.**

**"Flew," said Hagrid.**

"Flew?" asked Hermione surprised

Draco smiled at her a little and read

**"**_**Flew**_**?"**

"Didn't knew that you thought the same as your boyfriend, Granger"

Hermione blushed, but Harry just smiled at her and gestured to Draco to read on.

**"Yeah — but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

Everyone was thinking about Hagrid and a way for him to fly.

**"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. **

**"If I was ter — er — speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

**"Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. **

"That has everyone, even the pureblood and the half bloods." Said Filius

"Everyone is eager to see and do magic" said Pomena

"Maybe that is why there is always a accident in this school, everyone is too eager" said Poppy with a sigh.

**Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.**

**"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

**"Spells — enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high security vaults.**

At this, Charlie's head turned at the book and said: " I love dragons" with a dreamy look in his eyes.

**And then yeh gotta find yer way — Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

Bill nodded at this, this was very hard to get in Gringotts, but it was even harder to get out alive.

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the **_**Daily Prophet**_**. Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.**

**"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

"We do not always mess things up" said Fudge stern.

**"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

**"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job.**

**Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

"I do not" said Fudge furious

**"But what does a Ministry of Magic **_**do**_**?"**

**"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

Percy scoffed. "They do more than that."

Arthur nodded. It was true that keeping magic away from Muggles was one of their main jobs, and that was a large part of what he had to do. Well, at least stopping Muggles from getting hurt from magical objects, but it wasn't the only job indeed.

**"Why?"**

**"**_**Why? **_**Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, **

**and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.**

**Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

"Hagrid" said Hermione with a smile

**"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are **_**dragons **_**at Gringotts?"**

**"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

**"You'd **_**like **_**one?"**

"Yes, You are a man I like, Hagrid, if only for your love of animals" said Charlie excited.

**"Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go."**

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

"I don't understand why wizards found Muggle money so hard. It says on the coins or money itself what it is worth" said Hermione.

"It's just so, love, don't break your head about it" answered Harry, with Hermione still in his lap.

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

**"Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches.**

**Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

**"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before, and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

_**UNIFORM**_

_**First-year students will require:**_

_**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)**_

_**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**_

_**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**_

_**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**_

_**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**_

_**COURSE BOOKS**_

_**All students should have a copy of each of the following:**_

_**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk**_

_**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot**_

_**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling**_

_**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch**_

_**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore**_

_**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger**_

_**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander**_

_**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble**_

_**OTHER EQUIPMENT**_

_**1 wand**_

_**1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)**_

_**1 set of glass or crystal phials**_

_**1 telescope set**_

_**1 brass scales**_

_**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**_

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**_

All the children grumbled at this line. It was so unfair. The adults were laughing at the children's faces.

**"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

**"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

**Harry had never been to London before. **

Everyone growled at this. Everyone should be allowed to go places, explore them. It was all the Dursleys fault Harry didn't go ever somewhere.

No wonder, he always wants to go places and explore everything thought Hermione. But that would change. She would take him to some places, she will see him the wonders of the world.

Ginny was sitting next to Neville and gave him an encouraging smile. He smiled shyly back. It was going the right way.

**Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

**"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic,"**

Hermione said " I knew the most wizards don't know this, but some inventions from Muggles are really impressive, such as cars, computers, telephone and some dangerous too, like rifles, guns, bombs. The most muggles are fine without magic, I think a muggle in the wizard world as a better ability to fit in, then a wizard in the muggle world. Muggles can adapt more, because it is harder to get through life without magic."

Draco thought about it. so the muggles aren't all so bad. Maybe Father was wrong. I am friends with Potter and I haven't said something degrading to Granger. Maybe it isn't too late. Maybe muggleborns are not so bad, as Father always told me.

**he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people.**

**Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? **

"Yes, my dear Harry-said Fred

"There are piles of gold miles—continued George

"buried underneath you-they said together.

**Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?**

The twins scoffed. As if these people ever could imagine like magic.

"Harry, you were forgetting something" said Neville in a soft voice "They don't approve of imagination"

Everyone looked shocked at Neville. It was the first time the boy had responded to the story. Some people even forgot he was there too. The twins looked at him and said " Congratulations Neville, we have decided you have a sense of humour and you can help us with pranks."

Neville just looked shocked at the twins.

**If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humour, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

"Hagrid has that effect on people" said Dumbledore with a smile.

Hagrid just blushed.

**"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it.**

"You have really good instincts, Harry" said Severus

"Yes, I needed them to survive, they told me everything from when my uncle was furious and I had to get in the most ideal position to escape without too many injures or when my aunt tried to hit me with the frying pan."

Everyone growled at this. The Dursleys will be punished.

**Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.**

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and **

**smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, **

**"The usual, Hagrid?"**

Harry grimaced, remembering how silent the crowded pub had gone silent the moment the bartender had pointed him out.

**"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.**

**"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this — can this be —?"**

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

**"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter… what an honor."**

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.**

"It is the first time I was confronted with my fame. I really didn't believe it, until that moment in the Leaky Cauldron. It was awful. Everyone was staring. I hate it" said Harry with a sign.

(How in the world could I have thought that Harry enjoyed his fame. He is much more like Lily then I ever thought.) thought Severus.

**"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."**

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

**"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

**"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."**

**"Always wanted to shake your hand — I'm all of a flutter."**

**"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

**"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

Hermione groaned. "Why did you do that? That will make him only more excited, idiot"

"Hey, give me some slack, I was finally free from the Dursleys and I was in shock. Besides I never thought that people would be so happy about the fact I remembered them years ago."

**"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" **

"See, I told you. He is too excited" said Hermione

"I know, love" answered Harry and gave her a kiss.

**Harry shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

"She is becoming very annoying" said a what irritated Hermione.

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

**"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

Harry, Ron and Hermione stiffened at the mention of the teacher that had Voldemort on the back of his head.

The adults, who were informed of Voldemort, growled at the mention of the weak-willed teacher.

Everyone who had him as teacher, admitted he was a horrible teacher.

**"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."**

Everyone grimaced, they remembered that stutter and it was one of the most annoying things of the man.

**"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

**"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it.**

Arthur raised his eyebrow. He thought Quirrell was the Muggle studies teacher. How did he get that job and that stutter?

Bill and Charlie were wondering the same.

**"N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" **

Harry scoffed. Just because he got rescued by his mother when Voldemort tried to kill him, people think he is a genius in the defense against the dark arts. It was true he was good in it and it was the only class he didn't hold back so much, because he was expected to be good in that class.

**He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

(He shouldn't be scared of vampires, You had something far worse on the back of your head) thought Harry

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

**"Must get on — lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.**

**Hagrid grinned at Harry.**

**"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

**"Is he always that nervous?"**

**"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience… They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of **

**the students, scared of his own subject — now, where's me umbrella?"**

Remus growled 'This was the man who had to teach children the dangers of the world. He was pathetic. He feared for his lessons, if the first teacher these children had was his pathetic man. He looked at Severus and tried to say with his look (how could Albus hire such a teacher)

Severus agreed with Remus. Quirrell was a pathetic man, he gave in to the Dark Lord.

**Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.**

**"Three up… two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."**

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

All the children smiled at this, they all remembered the time when they had visited Diagon Alley for the first time.

Harry's new family looked sad. It should have been his parents who had taken him for the first time.

Harry noticed the sad looks and said to the adults " My parents may not been there in person, but my mother was there and she told me a lot of stories of the times they went to Diagon Alley, so I never felt sad about that."

The adults smiled at this and began listening to the story again.

**The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.**

**"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.**

"Don't take the Collapsible ones" said Remus quickly.

"Why?" asked Neville.

"Trust me, these things are unpredictable and they may collapsed when you are brewing a potion and trust me that is not fun.

"Oh" said Neville in understanding and shivered. He was all terrible in potions with a normal cauldron, he didn't need a unpredictable cauldron who would cause more accidents.

**"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes.**

Ron shivered.

The twins looked at each other and walked to Ron. They said

"Ron, we would like to apologize for that prank we played on you, when you were younger. We are sorry" and they bowed to him.

Ron looked shocked at the twins but said when he saw Harry nodding to him "I forgive you if you don't play any pranks on me for this whole year."

The twins looked with wide eyes to him and said "One whole year? That is too much, 5 months"

"Take it or leave it" said Ron with his arms crossed.

The twins talked with each other and ultimately agreed to the condition

**He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen **

**Sickles an ounce, they're mad…"**

"They were right, that is just too much for an ounce, that is almost a galleon" said Draco

"What?" said he, when he saw everyone look at him. "It is the truth" and went back to reading.

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. **

Harry smiled when he heard the word Snowy. He had to think of his own snowy owl, Hedwig, his second friend, the first one was of course Hagrid. He wondered where she was, when sudden he heard a hooting above him. he looked up and saw Hedwig flying above him. He took Hermione from his lap and stood up, with his arm next to him, so she could land on it.

After a few seconds he had the snowy owl on his arm, he began stroking her. "I missed you" said he to Hedwig and gave her what owl treats the room had conjured.

There appeared a new note

_**Dear Harry,**_

_**If we are right, Hedwig should have arrived by now. If not, wait a few extra minutes. We sent her to you, because your relatives were becoming a little more evil than they already were. They tried to kill her, because she was hooting for you. We know that you love our owl very much, it is your second friend after all, so we rescued her and we convinced your relatives to take a trip away to Marge. Take care.**_

_**From**_

_**JSP and ASP**_

Harry read the note with wide eyes and looked at everyone.

"They tried to kill her, they tried to kill Hedwig" said he with tears in his eyes.

Hermione walked to him and gave him a tight hug. "Don't worry, they will never will try to hurt her or you. You both will be safe."

The adults agreed with Hermione.

"Don't worry, mate, we will make sure that no one will never hurt her." Said Ron serious.

**Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —"**

"Great broom" said Harry.

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon…**

**"Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

**They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was —**

**"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. **

Bill grinned when he heard the name of his work. The building and goblins were overall the same.

**The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

_**Enter, stranger, but take heed**_

_**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**_

_**For those who take, but do not earn,**_

_**Must pay most dearly in their turn.**_

_**So if you seek beneath our floors**_

_**A treasure that was never yours,**_

_**Thief, you have been warned, beware**_

_**Of finding more than treasure there.**_

**"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

"We bet that Harry, Ron and Hermione will try to rob the bank" said the twins.

The trio looked at each other and then back to the twins and said together "Probably" with a big smile on their faces.

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

**"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."**

**"You have his key, sir?"**

**"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

"Hagrid, why did you do that? The goblins hate it if people make a mess on their desks. You will get a wrong cart now. The cart with only one speed." Said Bill, when thinking how he hated these carts.

In the beginning of this job by Gringotts e usually had to ride with them, because the goblins didn't think he was good enough to work there. He was glad they trusted him a little more now.

**"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.**

**The goblin looked at it closely.**

**"That seems to be in order."**

**"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

"Hagrid, why did you do that? Harry is too curious for his own good." Said Molly. She tried to say it sternly, but a little small smile appeared on her face.

Remus just wondered what kind of curiosity Harry had. James' curiosity who always got him in trouble or Lily's obsessive, I will found everything you are hiding, one.

**The goblin read the letter carefully.**

**"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

**Griphook was yet another goblin.**

"What a surprise, Harry. Gringotts is from the Goblins."

Harry smiled at Draco. Draco asked "Why are you smiling?"

"You called me, Harry, Draco. And I thought that was the first time you called me Harry, so I smiled."

Draco began blushing, when the twins cheered for him. He saved himself from further embarrassment by quickly reading the next sentence.

**Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.**

**"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

**"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

Arthur and Molly sighed. They had heard a global explanation on what happened in their first year. But they never knew what exactly happened. Maybe this was the chance to found out exactly what happened.

**Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off.**

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible.**

"That is amazing, Harry. Nobody remembers that much. Through the speed and the many distractions and the fact everything looks the same, everyone forgets which direction they are going. It is very clever of you, you can remember that much," said Bill, "even I can't remember that much and I have worked there a few years."

Harry blushed a little for the compliment he got.

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

"It's magic" said George appearing behind Harry, making Harry jump a few inches in the air. When he was down on the couch, he raced to the another counter in the room, his back to the wall, his wand out and his eyes searching for the danger that scared him.

Everyone looked shocked at Harry. Hermione walked to him, talking softly against him, while showing her hands and not making any sudden movements. She stopped one meter from Harry and kneeled for him on the ground. She looked him in the eyes and said

"Harry, everything is going be alright. There is no danger here. George just wanted to scare you a little. He wasn't going to hurt you, I promise. I will never ever let anyone hurt you anymore. Come, let's go back to the couch and listen to the story. There is no danger, I promise."

Harry slowly uncurled himself and stood up. He took Hermione's hand, but his wand never left his other hand. His eyes were still searching for any signs of danger. When they were back on the couch, Hermione sitting next to him and Remus on the other side of him, George came to him and said

"Sorry, Harry. I never meant to scare you so, please forgive me." And he held his head down in shame.

"It's o-okay. I j-just had a flash-flashback t-to my un-uncle. He lo-loved to sc-scare me, be-before beat-beating me. I learned to al-always be alert for an-any danger. It's not y-your fault, George. I don't blame you" said Harry, getting better at the end of his speech.

Everyone looked monstrous, the Dursleys will get it, when they were released from this room.

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a **

**dragon, but too late**

"That better isn't a dragon, Bill" said Charlie, the dragon-loving-Weasley.

— **they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

**"I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"Well, stalagmites are-" began Hermione, but she couldn't continue, because of the hand on her mouth.

"I know, Hermione" said Harry, while removing his hand and kissing her on the lips.

**"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."**

"I wasn't going to say that?" said Hermione

"I know, but I like Hagrid's explanation better on yours" said Harry smiling, when she pouted a little, when he said that.

**He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

Harry bite his lip. He never like to hear that he was rich, especially when the Weasleys were in the room.

Molly saw that Harry was a little pained. "What is wrong, Harry dear?" asked she.

Harry looked at the mother of his best friend and then looked to the ground "I know you that have much money, so I am not very comfortable when my wealth is mentioned, especially when you are in the room. I don't want you to think I am boasting with it."

More couldn't he say, because Molly had him in a tight hug. "Don't wonder about it, dear. We know that you would trade it any second for the chance to have your parents back. We know that you are not boasting around. We know you. Don't worry about us, while your money is mentioned. We have the privilege of knowing the real you and it is just fine."

Harry had tears in his eyes, while he continued hugged Molly, the mother he always wished he had, no the mother he had now.

"Thanks, mum" whispered Harry to her. Molly smiling when she heard these two little words.

**"All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Harry's — it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London. Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

**"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." **

**He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

"One speed only," said Bill. These carts were the most dangerous carts of them all. These were the carts people fell out.

**"One speed only," said Griphook.**

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.**

"Harry" said Severus with a sign, "Why do you have to do that? You are always doing dangerous things."

"The Dursleys never cared about me, so I never learned what is dangerous or not. I always had to found out myself, so I just test everything out."

Again there were growls at this.

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

"woah, that means it is a high security vault. What is in there?" asked Bill

"You will see" answered Harry mysterious.

**"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

**""If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

"Has that ever happened?" asked Neville with a small voice.

"Yes, a few times. A few years back there was a co-worker, who tried to be funny. He got sucked in and only with the promise that he never would set a foot in Gringotts again, the goblins released him out the vault."

**"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

**"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.**

"That is not true. That is bad for business. They checked every week" said Bill

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least**

"You wouldn't find any jewels in there. Jewels are very common after all. Only the most rare things are left in these vaults. The only expection is the really, really wealthy clients" explained Bill.

— **but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.**

**(**Stupid stone) thought the trio. Their first year was very interesting, because of that stupid little stone.

**Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask. Whenever he asked a question at the Dursleys the only answer he would get was a slap with the cane from his uncle or a swing at his head with a frying pan from this aunt. He never asked any questions, mainly Dudley was really stupid, but secondly he was scared he would give him some punches.**

Again there were several growls at this knowledge.

"I want to hit them with a cane or a frying pan, I wonder if they would like that" said Hermione darkly.

"Relax, love. It is okay, that are just my relatives, don't worry about it"

"It is not okay, Harry. You know that, right. Everything they did to you was wrong. I will always worry about you, because you will always do something to make me worry about you. I will always love you, my hero, my Harry." Said Hermione, while kissing him on the lips. This time a very very long kiss, at the end they had to break free, because they both needed oxygen.

"I know, my love" said Harry, just hugging her afterwards.

**"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

**One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life — more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

**a.n note**

**I will stop here. This chapter is so long, I have decided to cut it in two. The other part will come in one/two weeks. I promise it, maybe sooner. My exams are beginning this week, so i have little time this week, but after that I have holidays, so I can focus on writing this story. I would like to apologize for not writing sooner, but I had a writer's block. I have read the books again, deciding what I wanted to happen in each book and how I would change things, so it would fit in my story. Sirius isn't going to be in the next chapter, but the chapter after that. I will not say so much about how Sirius and Harry met, that is a story for book 3. Please review and if I can't write anymore, merry Christmas and have a fine and safe New Year.**

**Bye bye**


	7. Chapter 6: Diagon Alley part II

**I don't own Harry Potter or any characters in it.**

**Have fun with this new chapter.**

Chapter 6: Diagon Alley part II

**"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

"This is going to be fun" whispered Harry in Hermione's ear, who was sitting in his lap.

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

**"Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here — another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."**

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool**

Draco paled and said "This is our first meeting, isn't Harry"

"Yes, Dray"

"Maybe I can finally found out why you refused my hand of friendship two years ago," and a second later, "And DON'T CALL ME DRAY, POTTER"

**while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.**

**"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"**

**"Yes," said Harry.**

**"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy.**

**He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

Molly said "Bully your father, young man. You should be ashamed of yourself. You can't bully your father."

"I have to, my father wants it. He wants a spoilt young brat, who will listen to him and him only with only one exception and a brat who doesn't make friends easily, because of his behaviour."

The adults were shocked when they heard that. Lucius wanted the boy to act like that. What a horrible father he was.

"Don't worry about it, Dray. I will protect you from him and the exception" said Harry his eyes glowing with power, his aura growing with power.

Everyone in the room believed him, when he said he will protect Draco, because they knew him good enough to know that he will never let his friends and family fall down or let be hurt by everyone. That was just the person Harry Potter was. A powerful boy, no a young man, on the way to become a great man.

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

Draco looked affronted, and the words left his mouth before he could even stop it.

"I am not like that piece of trash, muggle!"

Harry said "Your behaviour was really similar. Dudley also walked around like he was from a superior race. He would always hit him and insult me, while shouting insults about him or my parents, like they were drunks and I was just an unwanted orphan. After a while I became to believe him, but then I met Ron and later Hermione and we became best friends. Our rivalry only get worse, so I believed in your mask, but lately I began questioning your intentions. I know now you were living a lie. This is part of the reason why I refused your hand for friendship. Please understand it."

Draco signed "I knew it had something to do with it, but I had to play my part or my father would have be mad, but screw him. I will use my own part, will you help, Harry?"

"Of course, Dray" said Harry smiling

"FOR THE LAST TIME DON'T CALL ME DRAY OR I WILL HURT YOU " but everyone saw he don't mean it, because of the small smile on his face.

"**Have****you****got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

"**No," said Harry.**

"**Play Quidditch at all?"**

"**No," Harry said again, pretending to not knowing what Quidditch. His mother taught him what it was, but because he was 'new' to this world, he needed a lot of acting.**

"What has the world come to!" Fred said dramatically.

"Harry acting at all. Acting to pretend not knowing Quidditch. It is the biggest shame. What would Olivier say, when he would hear that you had so little respect for the game!" George continued.

This had Harry laughing, imagining what their crazy team captain would say if he ever heard that. He probably would shout on him, for pretending to be so ignorant.

Remus smiled. So it seemed that Harry had played Quidditch, just like James had wanted him too.

Severus smiled a little. It was true that his house had a better rival now, but he had seen the boy fly. He never saw him more free than up in the sky.

Charlie, however, also perked up at this. Was his brothers best friend into Quidditch? They never heard much about Ron's friend, so it was a good chance to get some more information on the boy. He went quickly back to listening, when he saw Draco was already reading further.

"**I****do — Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

"**No," said Harry, still pretending he was an ignorant Muggle raised boy.**

"You have to be good, if you can fool everyone for this many years." Bill said with a smile.

"Lot of practice, trust me"

Everyone believed him, when he said that.

" but I didn't know everything then and I still knew that everything there is in this world, but I will found out and live in this world when I know all the rules of it." Harry said, and Hermione saw that Harry was feeling uncomfortable, after another speech. She gave him a quick peck on the lips.

Ron had noticed this, but he didn't feel jealous anymore. At first he did, but he know he would never see Hermione more as a sister. He was more intrigued with the blond girl, Luna Lovegood was her name. Hermione usually made him feel stupid and here was a girl, who was in Ravenclaw, but had more imagination than Hermione would ever have. He felt something special about her. He would observe her some more, before he would sit with her, maybe after lunch.

Ginny was in the meanwhile working on Neville. She sat with him on the couch on and gave him some more smiles than in the beginning. Neville was getting more relaxed. At first he sit very tensed next to her, but her tactics were working. He was getting more relaxed, just from smiles and sometimes a little brush with her hand over his hand. She was a little afraid he would turn her down when she first tried it, but he didn't, so she become more confident with every sentence read. She would talk with him when it was lunch or a little after that.

"**Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

Dora glared at Draco.

"Want to say that again?" She nearly growled. She was a Puff, and she was damn proud of it! Pomena Strout was also glaring at him, it was after all her house and she was proud of it.

"Don't glare to me, my father would have disowned me, if I talked about every other house than Slytherin. He thinks Hufflepuff is the most weak of them all, but." Said he, when the glares increased in volume, "I don't share that view. I think loyalty and hard work are very good traits to have." At this the glares stopped.

"The Wrackspurts should have gotten in your Father's brain" said Luna dreamily "They tell me that he has to prove something."

The only who wasn't surprised at this was Ron. He was getting used to her presence and unlike the others he watched her every move.

"**Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something, but everything he could say, he should not know at all, so he kept quiet for now.**

"**I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.**

"**That's Hagrid," said Harry, smiling at the kind giant. "He works at Hogwarts."**

"**Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

"He is not a servant!" almost everyone nearly yelled, glaring at Draco.

Draco put his hands in the air and said "Acting" and he stood up. He walked to Hagrid and bowed to him "I, Draconius Lucius Malfoy, would like to formally apologize for all the things I have said or have done to you. Please accept my apology."

Everyone looked shocked at the Malfoy heir, this behaviour was totally new to him. Hagrid just looked at the young boy and said "It is fine, don't really care, but thanks for it"

Draco walked back to his seat and said "I also would like to apologize for everything that is going to happen in these books, I fear it is going to be many insults and mistakes, but know please I never intended it."

"**He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second. Nobody insulted his first real friend and get away with it.**

"**Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of ****savage****— lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed." Draco was talking a little quickly now, like he quoted a well-rehearsed play.  
**

"You found that out, just from my voice"

Harry nodded.

"You are awesome" the teachers and Remus nodded to agree with Draco's statement.

"**I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly. He would protect his friend from such insults from now on. He was the first one, who acknowledged him and gave him the feeling he was wanted, except for the form of his mother, which was sneering right now at the blond boy. Look liked his mother didn't like the boy very much.**

"**Do****you?" said the boy, with a small sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

"**They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy. He hoped to be finished soon and get more of his supplies. He couldn't wait for the rest of them.**

"**Oh, sorry," said the other, with an emotion in his voice Harry didn't recognise, was it pity and arrogance together at the same time. This person was very strange. **

Draco huffed "Thanks, Potter, calling me strange." Crossing his arms and pouting.

This made everyone in the room laugh. They never expected the proud Malfoy heir to pout like a little boy, while liking so cute.

"**But they were****our****kind, weren't they?" again sounding weird like he didn't really mean it.**

"**They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

"**I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?" the boy wasn't looking him in the eyes, while he said it. His voice had another purpose than his body language. This voice changed to more an arrogant child, but his body language showed a boy just like him, who wanted something different from me than just his surname. Harry just needed to found out what and take some care when the boy was close.**

"Hermione, you understand now, right?" Harry whispered,, his mouth hovering just inches above Hermione's ear.

Hermione nodded, understanding why Harry had been like that with Malfoy, Harry always waited until Malfoy did something first and observed the boy more than anything.

**But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

"**Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

"Yum." Ginny said quietly, which Bill heard, and he gave her a smile. He knew that, that was Ginny's favourite. He was close with all his siblings, but Ginny was his favourite of them all. Maybe was it, because she was the only girl, but he felt the need more to protect her. But he knew something was wrong with her. She was different and changed. Her smiles were a little more forced in the summer after her first year, but when he looked at her now, he saw she was showing more of their true self again. She was healing

"Ugh... Food..." Ron said, much to the amusement of his mother.

"We'll have food after this chapter Ron, it's longer than I thought." Molly said, looking at a clock that had magically appeared and it read: 11:30

"**What's up?" said Hagrid.**

"**Nothing," Harry lied.**

"You shouldn't lie, it will only make things harder to withstand." Said Minevra with little stern voice.

"That is just my life" that was not better for the atmosphere in the room, which was getting thicker, because of the hate for the Dursleys.

**They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?" He needed someone to explain it to him, so he would have something to talk about, when he met his schoolmates.**

Ron felt sorry for Harry and he told him that. "It would suck to pretend every time, Harry"

Harry grinned back at Ron. "Yeah, but I don't have to hold back anymore. Now I will act to my real intelligence."

"**Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know — not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

"**Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's, while keeping the observations he made a secret.**

"— **and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in —"**

"**Yer not****from****a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh****were****— he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

"That is true, Muggleborns do seem to have more power than others in the beginning, I think it is because they are new blood in the Wizarding world. The pureblood wizards are often married to family and created so more wizards who are weak than who are strong. We need muggleborns to survive or else we will extinct." Said Remus with a serious tone, while continuing with a lighter tone

"Your mother was a great witch and very powerful. I think part of the reason was, that she always would practise everything, even if she had mastered it already. She said it never hurt to practise and make the spells your own."

"Sounds like you, Hermione," Ron said, amused, "only you are more in books than the practical."

"**So what****is****Quidditch?"**

"**It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world —**

"No it isn't." Hermione scoffed. The only similar role, was the keeper. The rest of the game was completely different.

**everyone follows Quidditch —**

"That's because it's the best sport ever!" all the children said

**played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules."**

"It's not hard at all!" the Quidditch, except Harry said.

"**And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

"**School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —"**

"We are not dufffers!" said the Hufflepuffs in the room.

George bit back a smirk. He couldn't help it. Enraged Hufflepuff's were fun.

"That did I not mean like that. I don't believe Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers. I disagree with that statement." Said Hagrid, when he was glared at through two people.

"**I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.**

"There is nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff." Tonks said with her arms crossed. "Don't underestimate us"

"**Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

"That is not true. My mother was in Slytherin and she is considered a blood traitor to the Black family, because she married my father, who is a muggle." Said Tonks, surprising the children in the room. She didn't knew that, heck, they never knew Tonks to begin with, so that was not weird.

Harry was deep in thought, he knew not all Slytherins were bad. He probably would have gone to Slytherin, if he didn't met Ron on the train. He had an ambition and was the most cunning Gryffindor ever.

"You shouldn't let the prejudices get to you, they can mess up your view of the world" said Mad-eye Moody, his eye looking around in the room. " Prejudices can make it so you will underestimate your opponent and can get you killed"

Draco's eyes widened. "Your mother is the Aunt who married a muggle."

Tonks looked at her nephew, and said "Yes, so what?"

"My mother always gets a sad look in her eyes, when my father mentioned her. I think she misses her very much. Could you ... could you ask your mother if she wants to met my mother someday. I think my mother would like that very much"

"I will ask her"

"Thanks"

"**Vol-, sorry —You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

"**Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

"He started school in 1938 and left in 1945, I remember him clearly, as I was Transfiguration teacher at the time." Dumbledore said, and the man who introduced him to the Wizarding World, oh tom, my boy, I never expected that you would turn in this monster.

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts**

Hermione got a dreamy look in her eyes.

"I like that shop." Luna said, "It is filled with Captiosus Cerebellumes, my father says they will make you smarter. ( Captiosus smart and Cerebellum brains)

Hermione glared at the girl "That is nonsense" whispered she at Harry

"Leave it, Luna has her own imagination. Not everyone thinks like you, you are practical, I believe it only if I see it with my own eyes and smart and lovely and Luna is the dreamy, I believe in everything, until someone proves me wrong type. Don't sweat it"

"Oke"

**where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from****Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More)****by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

"**I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

Everyone started smirking or laughing, even the adults in the room.

"We will make him our new partner, he need some laughs in this life" whispered Fred to George.

"Right you are, Fred. We will make him smile more" said George, already planning how to convince Harry to join them in their pranks.

"**I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

Ron sent Hermione and Harry a smirk.

The other two of the trio said "We will not curse my/his cousin, Ron. We could get in trouble! They will get what they deserve" catching Ron's meaning in a second.

The Weasleys looked shocked at the trio, were they so close, they could figure out what the others were thinking?

"Harry, Hermione dears, how did you know that?"

"We spent two years together, mum, we survived a lot and we are best friends forever. We are beginning to think the same" said Harry with a smile, while Molly was please to hear Harry still calling her mum.

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Harry was very excited in Potions. It sounded a little bit like cooking, but Harry knew from his mother, Potions was a lot more difficult than cooking. **

**Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. **

**While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop). He didn't have enough eyes, he didn't know what it was, but he felt home. Some part of the reason Harry wanted to stay a little longer, was the look on his mother's face. He saw she was enjoying herself, looking at all the ingredients.**

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.**

"**Just yer wand left — A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

**Harry felt himself go red.**

Harry blushed.

"My first real present." He muttered to himself, which Hermione heard, and sent him a warm smile.

"**You don't have to —"**

"**I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at**

"Someone didn't tell Neville's uncle that, now did they?" Ron muttered, tactlessly.

"Shut up Ron, Neville likes Trevor." Hermione said, while looking at Neville.

Ron saw where Hermione was looking at and said quickly "Sorry, Neville, I didn't mean it."

"Yes, you did and I don't mind. I know Trevor wasn't the best choice for a pet, but I like him, so I just ignore everyone who said that Trevor is a laughable pet."

The teachers, especially Pomena were looking at Neville with proud. He was becoming more and more like a young man, then a shy boy.

— **an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they'redead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."**

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

Harry smiled, while stroking the owl, who had returned to his lap, when the sentence was heard out loud. She nipped Harry's ear playfully and flew back to her perch, which a few meters from Harry was.

"**Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

**A magic wand… this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.**

"It's what everyone looks forward too." Remus said, smiling, remembering the day he had gotten his wand.

Arthur and Molly were looking a little bit sad to their youngest son, they had given him Charlie's old wand and replaced it only a few days again, when they heard he had broken it and it was becoming a danger.

Ron say this parents looks and felt sad, but also proud. Sad, because they never get much money and proud, because he would traded all the money in the world for his parents. They were the best you could have.

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

"Do you know which wand is that, Professor Dumbledore?" asked a curious Hermione.

"I am not sure, miss Granger, but some rumours say it is the wand of Merlin." Said Albus with a twinkle in his eyes.

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled.**

Dumbledore smiled at this. Harry's magical sense was strong.

**The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

"**Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry repressed the urge to jump. His mother told him that Ollivander like to surprise his customers/ Hagrid must have jumped, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

"Oh my, Ollivander still looks to scare his customers with that. He always had a weird sense of humour." Said Dumbledore his eyes twinkling.

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

"**Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

"**Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

"How does he remember that?" asked the children in the room.

"Well, it could be a memorizing charm, or it would most likely be that he remembers it, because he loves his job." Remus answered with a smile.

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

"**Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

Remus smiled. James would say that when Sirius or that Rat asked to use his wand.

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

"**And that's where…"**

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.**

"**I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"**

A sad silence went through the room. Most people lost someone in the war.

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

"**Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

"**It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

"**Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

"**Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

"**But you don't****use****them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.**

"**Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

Hagrid get a glare from Minevra. "So that is the reason you still can use magic, Hagrid. Why did you not tell us?" said she.

"I was afraid you would take the pieces away. It is all I got left from my school days."

"We are not taking your wand away, maybe it is time that we help you. We know you never graduated, maybe we can help study and ask if the ministry can supervise an exam for you, so that you can graduate and get a new wand."

"Really" asked Hagrid with tears in his eyes.

"Yes, we do it after the books are read, okay"

"Yes, professor, thank you for the opportunity."

"**Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now — Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

"**Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

"That confused me as well, but I figured that he meant the hand you write with." Said Hermione

"**Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

**Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

"**That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."**

"Nope." Harry said, shaking his head.

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.**

"I hated that..." Several people said, remembering when Ollivander had done that to them.

"**Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —"**

**Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

"**No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

"How many wands did you have to try out? I had to try out at least 6 before we found mine." Tonks said, looking at Harry, turning her eyes green to match his eyes.

"Erm... I think maybe 30?" while changing his eyes in the violet eye colour, Tonks just had.

Tonks whistled. "That were there many. Ollivander must have been happy" she said changing her eyes back to the colour they had.

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

"Told ya so!"

"Nobody disagreed with you, Dora" said Charlie, which resulted in a stinging hex from Tonks.

"Don't call me that, Brownie"

"Why not? I think Dora is a nice name" said Harry innocently.

"Okay, you are the only one who is allowed to call me that, deal Harry" while holding her hand in front of him.

"Deal, Dora" said Harry, shaking the hand.

"**Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

Harry grinned. He rather liked his wand.

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers.**

"You found it!" Dora said, reaching out to high-five the younger boy. "Some people have to go to a custom wand maker, but it's very rare when that happens."

**He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and silver sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.**

"Red for Gryffindor and silver for Slytherin, interesting combination, Potter" said Mad-Eye.

Harry just smiled at the older, somewhat scary man. "My friends call me the most cunning Gryffindor there ever was."

**Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…"**

"Curious? What's curious?" Percy said.

Harry's stomach dropped. What would his family think when they heard he had the same core as Voldemort in his wand.

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious…"**

"**Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"**

"Harry and Percy think the same" said the twins, laughing at their two brothers.

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.**

"**I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar."**

"What?" said most people in the room.

Harry was looking at everyone in the room, trying to found something. Hermione just looked at Harry's strange behaviour, it was like he was waiting for something and at the something looking for something. Then it clicked. Harry thought that he would hate him for the fact he had the twin wand from Voldemort and would abandon him.

"Harry James Potter, I don't care if you have the twin wand of Voldemort. The thing I care about is you. Even if you two have the same wands, it doesn't means you are the same people. You are nothing like Voldemort and nobody will leave you, because of that, understand"

The eyes from all the other people were widened from shock. Harry thought they would abandon him, because he had the same wand core as Voldemort.

Remus and Severus stood up at the same time and walked to Harry and Hermione.

"Harry, we will never leave you, understand. You said it yourself, we are now a family and we will not abandon each other. You are your own person and you are nothing like Voldemort. Trust me, I would know" said Severus

"Severus is right, we will not abandon you. Please belief us. I promise you I.. no We will never leave you alone"

Harry looked up and looked at them with tears in his eyes, he asked in a small broken voice "Do you really promise? Will you really never leave him? will you always protect me? Really?"

The next thing he knew was he was being hugged by all the people in the room. "Yes we promise"

Harry just let his tears fall and knew no matter what happened, this was his family and he loved them more than anything. He really didn't deserve them, but he was happy they promised to never leave him.

**Harry swallowed.**

"**Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter…**

George snorted. "You would think that defeating the Dark Lord would prove that."

**After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great."**

"It sounds like he admires You-Know-Who..." Ron said with a grimace.

Hermione shook her head, and muttered, "No tact."

"Mr. Weasley, Ollivander doesn't admire the Dark Lord, but he admires the magic." Dumbledore explained.

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

**The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.**

"**Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

"It was the same for me." Ted said, with a chuckle.

"**You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life — and yet — he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

"**Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last.**

"Because you are Harry." Hermione said, rolling her eyes and kissing him on the mouth.

"Thanks, Mione"

"**All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander… but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry — I mean, the night my parents died."**

Harry looked down. Why did he have to be famous? He was famous for his parents getting murdered? That was truly horrible.

Hermione saw how he looked and gave him a slap on his head.

"Ow" yelled Harry "What did you that for?"

"You were thinking stupid thoughts."

"Yes, you were. You were making that I am guilty face of you."

"I didn't make a face"

"Yes, you did"

"Can you please stop it fight, I am almost done, then you can continue" said Draco.

That earned him two glares, but that didn't bother him and he just continued reading.

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

"**Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 'smatter of fact."**

"That's what I love about Hagrid, he always knows how to cheer someone up!" Charlie said with a grin. Everyone agreed with him.

Hagrid was blushing.

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.**

"**Yer ticket fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September — King's Cross — it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me…. See yeh soon, Harry."**

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"Wait... He didn't tell you how to get onto the train, did he?" Remus said, grimacing.

"Nope!" Harry said with a grin. It was thanks to that, that he had met the Weasley's.

"So... Food?" Ron said, making people laugh.

Everyone stood up and walked to the lunch table that appeared when Ron had said Food. They sat on it and began eating and talking over the books. After lunch, Dumbledore said, we will have for one hour a little break to discuss the books or other things and after that we will continue reading the book.

Harry and Remus went to the room where Sirius was sleeping, to look if he was awake and ready to talk. Ginny took Neville's hand and went to speak with him. Ron was walking with Luna and was talking to here.

Severus and Draco was talking, the minister and the other adults were talking about punishments for the Dursleys and the children left, were playing some game together.

**a.n note there is the other halve of the chapter Diagon Alley. Next chapter won't have a chapter from the book, but the conversations I described here above, a sort of interlude. I hope you like it, I don't know or I will do everything in one chapter or one conversation one chapter. I would like to thank everyone for their reviews and I hope you will continue to read my story and please review more. I love to read them and it will motivate me more for new material. I wish everyone a happy new year and hope everyone has someone to share it with.**

**MonkeyDLuffy1512**


	8. Chapter 7 interlude

**Text = book**

Text= reactions on book and normal conversations

(text)= thoughts

_**Text=letters and spells**_

I don't own Harry Potter or any characters in it.

Interlude

Harry and Remus

"Harry, shall we look if Sirius is awake?"

"Okay, Remus"

They walked together to the room where Sirius was sleeping. He walked in the room and saw Sirius was awake and he was eating a meal, which probably the room provided for him. Sirius looked up, when he heard a sound and he saw his old friend and his godson walking to him.

"Harry, Remus, you are here. Remus, you have to believe me, I am innocent. I didn't betray Lily and James. Please believe me."

"It is okay, Sirius, I know. You told us already."

"Us?"

"Yes, the minister and Amelia Bones were there too, so when we are released from this room, they will make you a free man."

Harry walked to the bed and hugged the man in it.

"Sirius, I am so glad to have met you. Don't never leave me again, Padfoot"

Sirius hugged back and said "I promise you, Pup. I will never ever leave you again. We will get permission to change the guardianship to me. I am after all your godfather and then we will live together, is that a plan?"

"Yes" shouted Harry and he danced a little happy dance.

"That is a splendid idea, Padfoot. We were already thinking about a new guardian for Harry here and I think it is a good idea for you two to live together. There is just one thing, you will have to expect a lot of visitors. Nobody is leaving Harry out of their sights again."

"What do you mean with new guardian? What visitors? What is going on?"

"You didn't tell him, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "There was no time, I had to make sure he was okay. I was going tell him later."

"What didn't you tell me, Harry? Please tell me"

Harry shook his head again. "I can't. Not so soon after hearing it all."

Remus hugged Harry and said "Why don't you sit by Sirius and I will tell the story, okay"

Harry nodded and went to sit in Sirius' lap, pulling Sirius' arms around him.

Sirius looked at the small boy in his arms and then at this old friend.

"Moony, tell me."

Remus conjured a chair and sat next the bed.

"After the night that James and Lily died, Hagrid went to retrieve Harry from the house, right."

"Yeah, I know. I was there. I even gave him my bike to help him."

"Hagrid took him to Privet Drive 4, where Lily's sister Petunia, her husband and her son lived. He was under orders to bring him there from Dumbledore. Dumbledore left him there, to give him a chance on a normal childhood, but that plan went a little south."

Remus sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Remus, please tell me"

"It was terrible, Sirius, even more terrible than your childhood."

"No!, please not that."

"They starved him, told him that he was worthless and a burden. They told him that Lily and James died in a car crash, they didn't tell him anything over the Wizarding world. He didn't knew that he was a wizard until Hagrid told him two years again. His room was a cupboard under the stairs and they beat him. bad. He has scars from a whip, belt and burns and other wounds. They craved the word 'FREAK' on his back and his uncle..." there fell he silent.

"What? What did that pig do to my godson? Tell me now, Moony"

"He got raped" whispered Remus.

"What?"

Sirius couldn't stop the tears falling out of his eyes and even if he could, he wouldn't. He just hugged the boy in his arms, who also had tears in his eyes.

"I will murder these people."

"Get in the line, Sirius. There are many people who want the honour of killing these things, but after we are released from the room, the minister and Amelia will arrest them. They are pretty sure they can make sure that the uncle get the dementor kiss, the aunt will get time in Azkaban and the boy will get one more chance, but should he screws up, he will threw in Azkaban next to his mother."

"Who are the people who you meant, Remus? Who is trying to protect my godson?"

"Everyone in that room. Harry told us that he views Hogwarts as his true home and his friends, the Weasleys and the teachers in the castle are his true family. We will protect him, Sirius. Nobody will ever hurt him again or they will meet everyone in that room on a war path."

"Harry, I am so sorry. If I had not gone after that rat, you would never had gone to them. Please forgive me. I let you down."

"It's not your fault, Sirius. Mom is proud of you, that you tried to avenge her and Dad."

"How do you know that, Harry? Your mother, Lily isn't here anymore."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Sirius" said a female voice behind Sirius.

Sirius turned around and stared in the smiling face of Lily Potter.

"Lily, is that really you?"

"Yes"

"But how? How is this possible. He killed you, he killed you and James."

"I put a spell in action, I had prepared beforehand. It protected Harry after my death from the killing curse Voldemort threw at him. A part of me stayed with Harry to protect him. When he turned nine, I began learning him some old Magicks to make sure he survived. Please Sirius, protect my son and tell him stories over James and me. Also make sure Remus takes care of himself. I think it is a good idea for your three to live together, especially when Harry healed him from his curse. Take care."

The spirit of Lily Potter went back to Harry and disappeared there.

Sirius looked shocked at the place where just a moment again Lily stood and talked to him, but then something clicked in his head and he turned his head to Remus and asked "What did she mean with 'Harry healed him from his curse'?"

"Harry cured me from my lycanthropy. I am no longer a werewolf. I have better senses than other humans and my animagus from is a wolf, but I don't need to transform every full moon ever again."

Sirius just looked at Remus, put Harry on the bed, stood up and walked to Remus. When he was there, he did something very unusual for him. He threw his arms around Remus, hugged him and began crying.

Remus had also tears in his eyes, while hugging one of his oldest friend back. He had finally his friend back. He was whole again.

Harry just looked at the two adults and thought ' I am happy for the these two. They deserve to be happy' but then he got the surprise of his life. The two men went to him and gave him a group hug.

"Harry, I promise you, I will protect you, until my last breath and even after that. I will always watch over you. Would you like to move in with me and live with me and Remus?"

"What? But we don't live together, Sirius?"

"You think I will let you live alone. You are strange, Moony. You are the last of my oldest friends. We will take together care of Harry."

"I am honoured, there are some more things I need to tell you. Sit down."

"It is not bad news" he said, after seeing the look on Sirius face.

Sirius sat down and took Harry with him.

"Now, don't be mad and control your temper, please. Severus is a teacher here."

"What? How is that Snivellous a teacher?"

But then he got hit with something. He looked at his right and saw Harry holding out his fist. Harry had hit him on his head.

"Don't call him that. He is a good man. He promised he would protect me now. You will him not call him any names. I don't expect you to be right friends, but I want you to work with him on a civilized way. I like him. He even wanted to kill the Dursleys when he found out he touched him."

Sirius looked at Remus and saw he nodded.

"Okay, I will try."

"Okay, moving on. Harry is smart, very smart, but he haven't show his real potential, because he would get beaten for having better grades than his cousin. Even now on Hogwarts, he is scared of them, so he didn't do this best, but that will now change, right Harry."

Harry nodded.

"Harry has also a girlfriend, a girl named Hermione Granger, which from what I have seen and heard, is a very good girl for him. She is also very smart and loyal to him. she can calm him down, if he has a panic attack and never laughs at him and helps him when he has problems."

Sirius whistled and hit Harry playfully on his shoulder. "That is my boy, already a girl. Good, very good, Harry."

Harry just smiled at the antics of his godfather.

"We are also reading books about Harry. We all have been summoned by Albus. He had found some books and there was a note telling him to gather us and read the books together. They are covering the seven years of Harry's time on Hogwarts. We are now in the first book and we have just read about Harry's home life, Hagrid telling him he is a wizard and Diagon Alley. We are now left by the journey from platform nine three-quarters. He has made friends with Draco Malfoy in real time, but in the book their meeting was a little strange. Draco told us he had to behave like that, because of his father and he is beginning to see his father wasn't right. He hasn't hurt anyone and we are giving him a chance. The actions in the books will not change the way we feel about him. Harry is friends with him, so that makes him family, okay, Sirius."

"Okay, I still don't trust him, but I am willing to give him a chance, if he is Harry's friend."

"I think that covers everything, are you ready to go to the reading yourself, Sirius?"

"Yes, Moony. Let's go."

He stood up, but swayed a little. Harry took a arm and Remus took the other and so they walked Sirius to the Room, where everyone was waiting for their return. Some eyes widened when they saw Sirius was with them and Madam Pomfrey went immediately in nurse mode and checked him over.

"He is okay, he still needs some rest, but he will be fine in a few days."

Harry and Remus lead Sirius to a couch and put him down.

"Everyone, I want you to meet my godfather Sirius Black. He was wrongly placed in Azkaban, but escaped for my safety. Don't hurt or attack him. He asked me if I wanted to live with him and Remus and I said yes"

Hermione walked to Harry and gave a kiss on the cheek "Congregations Harry, you deserve happiness"

She then walked to the couch where Sirius sat and said "Hello, My name is Hermione Granger and I am Harry's girlfriend. Nice to meet you, Sirius"

"So this is the girl Moony was talking about. Nice to meet you, too. Thanks for being there for my godson."

"Anytime"

Everyone, except Severus, came then to Sirius and each person introduced himself. Sirius looked at Severus and said

"Snape, I heard from my godson you also want to protect my godson, so because of that, I am willing to give you a chance. I am also sorry for the things we did to you in the past. It was wrong. Truce?"

"Truce, only because of Harry"

"With that I can live."

With that the two men laughed and each went to his own place. They decided Molly would read the next chapter, called Chapter 6 **'The Journey of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters'**

**Ginny and Neville**

When they both had lunched, Ginny took Neville by the hand and lead him to one of the empty bedrooms. Neville was blushing, he looked like a tomato.

"Ginny, Why are we here?"

"Neville, I knew this is surprising for you, but I think I like you. I like you a lot and I knew we are still very young. I am only twelve and you are thirteen, but after I saw Harry with Hermione, I decided age didn't matter and I would like to give us a chance, if you like"

At the end of this, Ginny was also blushing a lot.

Neville looked at her and suddenly was there a small disturbance in the air and after that Neville saw Ginny with new eyes. Even as a twelve year old, she was very beautiful. Her red hair hanging softly over her shoulder, her brown eyes full of sparkles with a little hint of pain and darkness in them, but he also had too. She was prefect and she was willing to give him a chance. Him, the clumsy, easily scared and cry baby Neville Longbottom. He was the luckiest guy in the world.

"Yes," said he after a minute, "I would love to give us a chance" and he took her gently in his arms and gave her a gentle, but passionate kiss on the lips. Ginny melted away. This was perfect. This was the man where she would like to spent her old days with.

After the kiss ended, they both looked in each other eyes for only sign of rejection, but both saw the same love and devotion to each other, so they kissed each other again and after that just hugged each other.

"Do you want your parents about this?"

"No" said Ginny a very quick.

Neville couldn't help but to feel a little hurt, when she said it so quickly. Apparently this expressions showed his emotions, because she said quickly after that

"It is not like I am ashamed of you or this relationship, but we are now reading the books and I think we can use this time to get to know each other a little better, before we tell my parents. Maybe even after a few years. My mother is a little bit very overprotective of her only daughter, so we wouldn't want you to face her wrath at this age. I love you and I am not ashamed of you, okay"

"Okay, Let's go back to the main room. I think the hour is almost over. It is time for the next chapter."

They walked out of the bedroom and went to sit on one of the couches, next to each other very close. They talked a little more, until the door opened where Harry and Remus went to and this time they had someone with them. The man introduced himself as Sirius Black and she and Neville went over to introduce themselves. After all that it was decided that Molly would read the next chapter and the two newly love birds began listening to Molly's voice when she was reading out the next chapter's title '**chapter 6: The Journey of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters'.**

**Ron and Luna**

"Hey Luna, can I talk with you for a bit?"

"Of course, Ron. The Wrackspurts told me that you wanted to talk with me."

She stood up and danced in a straight line to an unused room and Ron followed her just walking.

When Ron came in the room, he saw Luna still dancing in the room. At that moment he found something in the air, a slight shiver, and the world became a lot clearer in that moment. He opened his eyes and run to Luna. When he came to where she was dancing, he grabbed her hand and began dancing with her. It didn't matter he didn't knew how to dance, it was like instinct, what was guiding him. Luna looked him in his eyes and began smiling to him. They danced for a long time, until Luna said

"Come on, it is almost time for the next chapter" and she wanted to walk to the door, but Ron grabbed her and kissed her on the lips. Luna melted away under his lips.

When they are done, Luna said "Woh, the Wrackspurts have really made you crazy, but I like crazy. I like crazy a lot. We will have to thank Freya for this, Ron"

"What do you mean, Love?"

Luna smiled when Ron called her Love and explained to him what she meant.

"Didn't you felt that? That shiver in the air. It was like an instant connection between us was formed. I felt it also in the room. There is now a bond formed between us. Freya is the goddess of the love, she is also called Venus or Aphrodite. She is the one who decided everyone's soul mates. I don't know why, but she formed a bond between us. We are soul mates now. Do you want me, Ron, even when the others call me Loony Lovegood?"

"Yes, I don't care about that. I love that your brain and thoughts are so different from most people. If everyone was the same, it would be boring. Luna, would you like to be my girlfriend? I promise to protect you from anyone who wants to hurt you. You have my word."

"I would love to be your girlfriend, Ron" and Luna kissed him again on the lips.

They walked together out of the room, with a slight glow around them. Which the others didn't even noticed. The two went to sit next to each other, holding each other's hands the entire time. They listened to Sirius Black story and then began listening to Molly Weasleys voice when she said

'**Chapter 6:The Journey of Platform Nine Three-Quarters'**

**Severus and Draco.**

"Draco, come with me!" said Severus.

Draco followed him and saw he was leading him to a quiet corner in the room. When they were Severus took his wand and formed a bubble around them to prevent others from hearing their conversation.

"Why didn't you tell me, Dragon?" said Severus, hoping that his old nickname for his godson would help him.

Draco looked in Severus eyes and saw hurt and guilt. He signed. He didn't want to talk about this, not now and not ever.

"Severus, you know how Father is. He still believes the Dark Lord is alive somewhere, but he was too afraid of Azkaban to openly search for him. He claimed to be under the Imperius, when he did all the things he did when he was a death eater, but we both know that he is not true. Father is stupid, he even thinks you are still loyal to him."

When he said this, he heard Severus move a bit, but nothing more. So he continued his story.

"Father wanted me as an obedient child, but not to other people other than him or the Dark Lord. He learned I needed to be an arrogant bully, to prevent people from knowing me. He said it was to protect me from others who would harm me, but I know it is only because he didn't want to give anyone the chance to study me and give them so the chance to discover the truth. I know my Father. I know he waits for the return of the Dark Lord and when he returns, I am meant to be a Death Eater with him, but I don't think I can, Severus. Please don't make me."

At the end Draco was crying. Severus pulled him in a hug and whispered in his ear "Don't worry, Dragon. You are my godson and I will protect you. I think now you are friends with Harry, Harry will also do everything in his power to protect you and if Harry wants to protect you, his family will also protect you. I sense they will do almost everything to keep him safe. Don't worry, Dragon. Just calm down."

After Draco's breakdown it was almost time for the next chapter. Severus cleaned them both up and cancelled the bubble they were in. The most people were back on their sits. They walked back to the couches and waited until the next chapter started. They both had a little surprise, when Sirius Black walked in the room with Remus and Harry. Severus was even more surprised when he apologized to him, his greatest arch-nemesis. He accepted it and he want to listen to the next chapter, which Molly began to read

'**Chapter 6:The Journey of Platform Nine Three-Quarters'**

**a.n I am going to stop here. I am not going to describe the punishments, that will come at the end of this story, which is at the end of the seventh book. I am also not going describe the games. They are just playing wizard games. I would like to apologize for the long wait. Tough start of the new year, I am very busy with school and I am Ill. Nothing serious, but I just feel like crap like now. That is why, I just wanted to finish this chapter. The next chapter is going to be **'**Chapter 6:The Journey of Platform Nine Three-Quarters' and will be longer. Please review some more and I hope that you enjoy it. have a nice day**

**Love**

**MonkeyDLuffy1512**


	9. Chapter 8: The Jorney of Platform Nine

**Text = book**

Text= reactions on book and normal conversations

(text)= thoughts

_**Text=letters and spells**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters in it. **_

**Chapter eight: The Journey From Platform Nine and Three Quarters**

After everyone had each own place, Molly picked up the book and said

"I'll begin."

"Chapter six: The Journey From Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

**Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun.**

"When has it ever been?" Hermione remarked drily

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room,**

"Serves him right, the fat bully." Said the twins, writing on a piece of parchment and chuckling a little bit crazy.

**while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything or shout at him**

"Probably too scared he'll turn them into toads or something along those lines." Said Severus

"I would never do that, that is an insult to all toads in the world."

– **in fact, they didn't speak to him at all.**

"Best period of Harry's life then?" said Ron with a smile.

"Ron, that is fun for awhile, but it will become depressing after a while" said Hermione a little angry.

**Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it was empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

"Ah, Hermy thinks the same as her boyfriend" said the twins with a slightly sick sweet voice.

"Fred and George, shut your mouths" said their mother and she continued reading.

**Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in **_**A History of Magic.**_

"NOOO! Harry has crossed to the dark side" yelled the twins

"There's nothing wrong with reading" yelled Hermione and the professors.

**His school books were very interesting.**

"WHY?!" Said the twins, while faking to cry

"Hey, when you're a muggle born or adopted into a muggle family of course magic is bloody interesting!" said Harry, which caused the twins to stop crying.

"Well, if you put it that way, we will allow you to read sometimes."

"Thanks" said Harry sarcastic and rolling his eyes, "but I like reading and I will continue to do so."

The twins just began fake crying again, until their mother scolded them and continued with reading.

**He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to Hoover anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice.**

"Gross!"

"That means she likes Harry, right Hedwig" said Hermione, looking at Hedwig. Hedwig flew over and nipped Hermione's ear affectionately, let Hermione pet her for a while and then flew back to Harry, sitting on his shoulder going to sleep.

**Every night before he went to sleep Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.**

"That do/did I also always" said all the people in the room.

**On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his Aunt and Uncle about getting to King's Cross station next day,**

"Wasn't that a bit late, love?" asked Hermione.

"No, I didn't wanted to give him time to agree and then break his promise."

That was the signal for everyone in the room to start growling, except for Harry.

**so he went down to the living –room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

"Stupid child." Said Hermione.

"Downright cowardly if you ask me." Said the Gryffindors in the room

"**Er – Uncle Vernon?"**

**Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.**

"**Er – I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to – to go to Hogwarts."**

**Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

"**Would it be all right if you gave me lift?"**

**Grunt.**

**Harry supposed that meant yes.**

"Harry, I didn't knew you was able to speak troll" said Neville, which caused almost everyone in the room looking at him. Ginny was smiling to him and holding his hand.

"**Thank you" He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.**

"Don't be so polite with them, love. They don't deserve it."

"**Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"**

"Magic carpets went out of production years ago when the broom was invented. Besides they're very unfashionable and they are forbidden." Said Remus.

**Harry didn't say anything.**

"Wise decision, don't want to anger the only person who can drive him to the station." Said Severus

"**Where is this school, anyway?"**

"SCOTLAND!" yelled all the children, cheering for their favourite school.

"**I don't know," said Harry, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.**

"**I just take the train from platform nine and three quarters at eleven o'clock" he read. His Aunt and Uncle stared.**

"**Platform what?"**

"That horse, she knows where the platform is. She went with Lily to wave her goodbye every time" said Severus, forming fists in anger.

"**Nine and three quarters."**

"**Don't talk rubbish ," said Uncle Vernon, "There is no platform nine and three quarters."**

"Yeah there is. It says so on the ticket. You just can't see it, you whale" said Ron

"Ron, don't insult whales" said Molly.

"**It's on my ticket."**

"You don't have to repeat me, Harry" which resulted in a pillow towards his head, hitting him right in his face.

"**Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother.'**

"Selfish moron. You'd think he WANTED Harry to stay at home!" said the adults

"Everything that would make me happy, is something the Dursleys will try to destroy or make I can never reach or go"

The list from the twins was growing every second.

"**Why are you going to London?" asked Harry, trying to keep things friendly.**

"You are too good for your own good" said the other two compartments of the golden trio.

"**Taking Dudley to hospital,' growled Uncle Vernon. "got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

"It would be pretty funny to see how they would have explained that to any doctors" said the twins, making everyone in the room laugh.

**Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep.**

"Like it feels at Christmas!

"The best day ever." Said Harry with a smile, thinking back at that day. The day he was free from the Dursleys for the first time for almost a whole year.

**He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes**

"Good thinking, Potter" said Moody.

"Yeah, Harry, great idea." Said Tonks, changing her hair to black, untidy hair like Harry's and green emerald stripes in it.

— **he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up.**

"I was waiting a looong time. They are so slow getting up in the morning." Said Harry

**Two hours later,**

"Like I said, long time!"

**Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry,**

"More like bribing him with a twenty and the promise of a ton candy" said Harry.

Hermione hugged him and sat back on his lap, carefully watching Hedwig, who was still sleeping on Harry's shoulder.

**and they had set off.**

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten.**

"Bit early isn't it, train sets off at eleven." Said Ron

"Yes but Harry'll need to find the train first which could take some time." Said Hermione

**Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him.**

"… Dear Lord…"

"Harry! You shouldn't be using mind control spells on your uncle it's very rude!" said the twins

"Believe me, every time my uncle appears to do something kind for me, it usually gives me more pain or it is just evil in the end."

**Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

"Told you."

"What's the fat fucker done this time?" said Sirius

"Sirius, language" yelled Molly, forgetting for a second she still didn't trust him.

"**Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine — platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

"Evil Whale."

"That is just evil." Said Pomena.

"I want to hex him." said Filius.

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

"It's invisible Harry."

"I know now, Love." Giving Hermione another kiss, making Hermione again blush.

"**Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.**

"Prats." Said Remus.

"Asses" said Sirius and Severus, looking at each other, when they said the same thing.

**Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone. He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters.**

"Good idea, boy" said Moody, not noticing the slight flinch Harry gave when he heard the word 'boy'

Hermione could however feel it and just gave him another hug.

**The guard had never heard of Hogwarts**

"It's a wizard school, muggles aren't allowed to know it exists in case they attempt to apply." Said Albus

**and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in,**

"Scotland"

"It'd explain the cold weather."

**he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts**

"Hurry, Harry, the train is almost gone." Said Neville, completely forgetting he met Harry on the train that day.

**and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl.**

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.**

"NO, don't do that" said Sirius, while Remus was laughing.

"What happened?"

"Sirius wanted to see what happened if he would do and just let's say he spent the next hours green"

Everyone laughing, except Sirius who was muttering something over 'traitorous wolves'

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"— **packed with Muggles, of course —"**

**Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair.**

"Weasleys to the rescue" screamed the twins, standing on the couch and cheering for their selves.

"Fred and George, sat down and listen to the story." Said their mother to them.

**Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him — and they had an **_**owl**_**. Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

"Oh, Harry eavesdropping on us, that is just mean."

Harry just smiled at them and then something exploded on the twins couch, covering them in smoke. When the smoke was cleared, the other people in the room were in a laughing fit. The twins were dressed in dresses with high heels and make-up on. Fred was dressed in a pink dress, with pink high heels, pink lip gloss and pink eye shadow. George however was dressed in a black gothic dress with black high heels, blood red lip gloss and purple eye shadow. The twins looked at each other and began also to laugh.

After 20 minutes laughing and a lot of pictures later, the twins asked

"How long is it suppose to last?"

"One hour, so you have another 40 minutes to go."

"Harry, please prank with us?"

"I will think about it, okay?"

Which caused the professors to pale slightly. The twins and a son of a marauder playing pranks was not a good idea. They hoped Hogwarts would stay up for the rest of their school career.

"**Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

"**Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mum, can't I go…?"**

"You was very cute" whispered Neville to a blushing Ginny.

"**You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first." What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten.**

**Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

"**Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

"**I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you **_**tell **_**I'm George?"**

"That trick is still fun" said the twins.

"**Sorry, George, dear."**

"**Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin** **called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it? Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere. There was nothing else for it.**

"**Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.**

"**Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."** **She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.**

"Thanks for the description, Harry" said Ron with a sigh.

"Hey, I didn't wrote this book, don't blame me, but it was well a very accurate description of you, Ron" answered Ron, which lead to a black pillow thrown in his face, which caused the children to laugh, mainly because of the face Harry showed after he was hit. This cost a few minutes of time, but then Molly could continue the story.

"**Yes," said Harry. "The thing is — the thing is, I don't know how to —"**

"**How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.**

"**Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

"Thank you again, mum" said Harry

"Don't worry about it, Harry, it was my pleasure" inside glowing because Harry called her now mum whenever he spoke to or about her. She knew she could never replace Lily, his real mother, but she was happy that he would see her as a mother. She would make sure he was treated well and that he would be happy and he would know love.

"**Er — okay," said Harry. He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid. He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble — leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run — the barrier was coming nearer and nearer — he wouldn't be able to stop — the cart was out of control — he was a foot away — he closed his eyes ready for the crash —**

"You don't crash, Harry" said Neville

"Maybe you don't." Said Harry, thinking back at the year before when he and Ron crashed at the wall. He could still feel his ribs hurting, by only thinking about it.

**It didn't come… he kept on running… he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said **_**Hogwarts' Express, eleven o'clock**_**. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words **_**Platform Nine and Three-Quarters **_**on it, He had done it.**

"Told you" said Neville laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, well in the muggle world it is weird to try to run to a wall and thinking you can walk through it without harm."

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.**

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

It caused everyone to laugh, but maybe it was more of the fact that Neville came scarlet red when he heard this sentence then the sentence in itself.

"**Oh, **_**Neville**_**," he heard the old woman sigh.**

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

"**Give us a look, Lee, go on." **

"Yeah, Lee" yelled the twins.

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

This caused Ron to shudder.

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.**

"That hurt"

"**Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.**

"You two, wanted to help someone with their trunk. Okay, who are you and where have you put the twins you know?" said Bill, which caused the twins to pout, which caused several people to laugh at their faces, including their mother.

"**Yes, please," Harry panted.**

"**Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!" With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

"**Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.**

"**What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, with Harry's excellent memory he knew it was Fred, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.**

Fred and George looked at their little brother and said with a little hurt undertone

"Can you tell us apart? Even mum has sometimes difficulty telling us apart."

"Yes, it is subtle , but there are little differences between you two. Fred hair is a slightly darker than George, his voice is what deeper than George and when you two laugh you will see the most clear difference. George smiles and laughs with his mouth, but only when he is a super mood it will show in his eyes. When Fred smiles and laughs, he uses less his mouth and more his eyes. His eyes twinkle more than George when he is happy."

The twins walked towards Harry and hugged him.

"Thanks Harry, sometimes we get hurt, when people can't tell us apart, so we love it that you can tell us apart. Thank you."

This caused Molly to be a little hurt. Most of the time she couldn't tell which twin was who. Harry say this and walked to her and said

"Don't be hurt. It is hard to tell them apart."

"But I am their mother, I should be able to tell them apart, but most of the time I just guess or call them both. I am a bad mother."

"No, you aren't. If it really matters to you so much, I can help you with telling them apart."

"Really how?" said Molly hopeful.

Harry put his hand to her eyes and closed his eyes. His hand began glowing blue and Molly felt the magic flowing over her eyes. After a minute Harry was done and said

"Now look at your sons and tell me which one is Fred and which one is George?"

Molly looked at the twins, first she saw no difference, but then something clicked. Harry was right, she could see the difference Harry had told them. She stood up and hugged the first twin and said

"Hello Fred, I love you so much." Which caused Fred to cry a little. His mother had called him Fred and she was right on the first time. Molly then pulled George with them in the hug and said

"I love you also, George and I am so proud of you two." George was also crying in his mother's arms. Everyone gave the happy family even a private matter, by turning away and to do something by their selves for a few minutes. After a few minutes, the hug was done and the twins went to sit next to their mother. Molly thanked Harry, and the twins also thanked Harry.

Molly went to the right page and continue the story, happy that she could finally tell her twins apart

"**Blimey," said George "Are you —?"**

"**He is," said Fred. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"Harry Potter, of course" said Fred laughing.

"_**Harry Potter**_**." chorused the twins.**

"**Oh, him," said Harry** "**I mean, yes, I am."**

"Oh him, that was your answer, Harry" said Draco with a smile.

"I wasn't used to hearing my name without disgust."

This caused everyone to growl and in their minds they were slowly torturing the Dursleys to death.

**The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red.**

**Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.**

"**Fred? George? Are you there?"**

"**Coming, Mum." With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.**

**Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying.**

This caused Ginny to became very red. Bill saw this and asked what was wrong with her. She didn't wanted to answer and just shook her head.

**Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.**

"**Ron, you've got something on your nose."**

"Mum," said Charlie, "That is social suicide."

He quickly shut up, when Molly glared at him. No matter what age he was, he was still a little scared for his mother, when he was at the end of that glare.

**The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

"How embarrassing." Said Ron, which caused Molly to feel a little hurt, which caused Ron to apologize to her for making her feel bad.

"_**Mum**_**— geroff" He wriggled free.**

"**Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said Fred.**

"You know, that reminds me very strongly of ickle Duddlekins, one of the nicknames aunt Petunia gave Dudley" said Harry, which caused the twins to become slightly green and then they quickly apologized to Ron. They didn't want anything to have in common with that horrible person.

"**Shut up," said Ron.**

"**Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

"**He's coming now." The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a red and gold badge on his chest with the letter **_**P **_**on it.**

This caused Percy to be a little proud. Now he was even Head Boy. It was a good step for him to get a job in the Ministry.

"**Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —"**

"**Oh, are you a **_**prefect**_**, Percy?" said George, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

"**Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said Fred. "Once"**

"**Or twice —"**

"**A minute —"**

"**All summer —"**

This caused the children to smile, except for Percy, whom blushed a little.

"**Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

"That is perfect, why didn't we get that one. It is brilliant" said George. Fred nodding with him.

"**How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said George.**

"**Because he's a **_**prefect**_**,"** **said their mother fondly.**

**"All right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl when you get there." She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

"**Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've — you've blown up a toilet or —"**

This caused the professor to sigh a little.

"Never give prankster new ideas, Molly. They will try them."

"**Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

"**Great idea though, thanks, Mum."**

"like we said before, don't give pranksters new ideas"

Then there was smoke coming off the twins and when the smoke was cleared, the rest saw the twins were back to normal.

"**It's **_**not funny**_**. And look after Ron."**

"**Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

"Like we earlier said, we will never call you that again."

"**Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

"**Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

"No, who?" said Harry with a sweet voice.

**Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.**

"**You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"**

"**Who?"**

"_**Harry Potter**_**!" Harry heard the little girl's voice.**

"**Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, oh please…"**

Ginny once again become scarlet red, which caused her older brothers to laugh at her. She just glared at them and they stopped. The power of the Weasley woman glare is still unbeatable.

"**You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo.**

"Thank you!" said Harry

**Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"**

"**Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there — like lightning."**

"**Poor **_**dear **_**— no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."**

"**Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

"Mister Weasleys, Don't you dare to ask that!" said their Head sternly

**Their mother suddenly became very stern.**

"**I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."**

"**All right, keep your hair on." A whistle sounded.**

"**Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.**

"**Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

"**We'll send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat."**

"I am still waiting for that toilet seat, Fred and George" said Ginny

"Sorry, Ginny, we found a more important cause."

"_**George!**_**"**

"**Only joking, Mum."**

**The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.**

**Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to — but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.**

Everyone was sad because of this. They all loved Hogwarts, but to feel that excited to leave a place behind was sad.

Sirius felt very guilty. If he had only thought about Harry first, before trying to get revenge for James and Lily, Harry could have grow up with a happy childhood. He promised to himself that Harry was now his first and most important person and everything he did was to help Harry.

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.**

"**Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."**

**Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

"**Hey, Ron." The twins were back.**

"**Listen, we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."**

Another shudder from Ron

"**Right," mumbled Ron.**

Ron agreed with his past book self.

"**Harry," said Fred, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."**

"**Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

"**Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

Molly looked stern at her youngest son.

**Harry nodded.**

"**Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got — you know…"**

"Ron, you told you to not mention that."

"Well, technically you only told the twins."

This earned him another glare from his mother.

**He pointed at Harry's forehead.**

**Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.**

"Ronald, it is rude to stare."

"Yes mum"

"**So that's where You-Know-Who —?"**

Molly just sighed.

"**Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."**

"**Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

This earned him a glare of his mother and Minerva.

"**Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

"**Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

"**Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.**

"Really" asked Ron

Harry nodded.

"**Er — Yes, I think so," said Ron.**

"**I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."**

Molly thought about him and turned a little sad. He was a bitter man, because he was born a Squib and didn't want anything to do with them.

"**So you must know loads of magic already." The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

"No, I wasn't talking about them, but you are right they are a old pureblood family." Said Draco.

All the Weasleys looked at him, until he finally snapped at said "What is wrong?"

"You didn't insulted us. That is new."

"**I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

"Terrible"

"Awful"

"Disgusting"

"Vile"

"Grotesque!"

Were heard through the room.

"**Horrible — well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

"**Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts.**

This caused the Weasleys to look at Ron. Ron became a little red.

**You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."**

"Is that really how you feel, Ron" said Arthur.

"At first, but then I met Harry and now I am only glad I am part of this family, but sometimes it is just hard."

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.**

"**His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff — I mean, I got Scabbers instead."**

The Weasleys looked sad at this. They knew they hadn't much money and they didn't like it when they couldn't buy the stuff their children needed or wanted.

**Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.**

**Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

"… **and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort —"**

Flinch

**Ron gasped.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**You said You-Know-Who's name!**_**"**

"So what?" said Harry

**said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people —"**

"Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself." Said Harry and Albus at the same time.

"**I'm not trying to be **_**brave **_**or anything, saying the name," said Harry, "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn… I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class." Especially if I don't want to be beaten by Uncle Vernon.**

This made the people growl.

"**You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough." While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.**

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"**

"FOOD" yelled Ron, "When we will eat?"

"Ronald, we have just eaten Lunch a few hours again."

"Exactly, it is time for a snack."

Then there appeared some snacks in the rooms and everyone eat them, thanking the house elves.

**Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor. He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry —**

"What are Mars Bars," asked Arthur.

"A muggle sweet, Dad" just like his wife Arthur felt a glow in himself when he heard Harry calling him Dad.

**but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.**

"That is a lot of candy." Said Tonks, changing her hair back to her favourite colour, bubblegum pink.

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.**

"**Hungry, are you?"**

"**Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef…"**

"You don't?" asked Molly

"No, mum, that is me" said Percy.

"Oh, Sorry, Ron."

"It isn't matter, Mum"

"**Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on —"**

"That is so sweet" said all the women in the room.

"**You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

"**Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

"**What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not **_**really **_**frogs, are they?"**

"No, only enchanted ones, dear Harry" said the twins happily.

**He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.**

"**No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."**

"I have twelve of them. I can trade of you like." Said Remus.

This caused Ron to nod and he said thank you to Remus.

"**What?"**

"**Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."**

"I also have Ptolemy thirteen times."

"That one I got from Harry buying me Chocolate Frogs."

**Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and moustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.**

All the children and Sirius cheered.

"**So **_**this **_**is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

"**Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa**

— **thanks —"**

**Harry turned over his card and read:**

_**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**_

_**CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS**_

_**Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**_

Harry hit himself in the head and whispered "All that time on a stupid card."

**Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.**

"**He's gone!"**

"**Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. **"**He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her… do you want it? You can start collecting."**

"That's nice of you, Ron" said his mother.

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. "Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

"Weird." Said Arthur

"**Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. **_**"Weird!"**_

"Like Father, Like Son."

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the Druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.**

"A good collection to start with" said Remus.

"**You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavour, they **_**mean **_**every flavour — you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once."**

"How did he knew how booger tasted like?" asked Neville.

George ignored him, but he was a little red.

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.**

"**Bleaaargh — see? Sprouts."**

All the children, except Harry, said "Yeck"

**They had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.**

"You only got good ones, except for the grass."

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.**

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

Neville became red.

"**Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

"**He'll turn up," said Harry.**

"So sweet," said the women. This time Harry blushed.

"**Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…" He left.**

"**Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could.**

"Ronald! Don't say that"

"It doesn't matter, Mrs Weasley." Said Neville.

**Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

"**He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting,**

This caused Sirius to growl. Everyone turned to look at him, but he didn't speak.

**but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…" He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.**

"Mum, did you give Ron my old wand? That thing is dangerous, that is why I got a new one. You should have given Ron a brand new wand, in place of giving Percy new robes. Ron needed the wand more." Said Charlie.

"Don't worry, Charlie. In the end it was lucky I got your wand." Said Ron smiling and thinking back at the end of last year.

"**Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —"**

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

"There are you finally, Love" said Harry lovely.

Ron just sat on the tip of the couch, waiting on the moment of Hermione's induction.

"**Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.**

Ron began laughing, which caused Hermione to hit him and Harry on the arm.

"Ow, why did you hit me too?" said Harry.

"It is from your perspective."

"**We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

"**Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

"**Er — all right." He cleared his throat.**

"**Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."**

This caused everyone to smile.

"I can't believe you actually believed that one" said George.

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened.**

**Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.**

"Stupid rat."

"**Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"**

Molly needed to take a few minutes to recover from this. She was slightly out of breath and said

"Hermione, honey, remember you need to breath."

Hermione blushed and buried her head in Harry'chest.

**She said all this very fast. Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either. Not that Harry needed to, he could remember everything after one time reading.**

"**I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

"**Harry Potter," said Harry.**

"**Are you really?" said Hermione.**

"_No. _Love, I am just a fraction of your imagination" said Harry to a blushing Hermione.

"**I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in **_**Modern Magical History **_**and **_**The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts **_**and **_**Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century**_**."**

"Those are very bad books. These stories are fake and so not true. Come on, a one-year-old having a wizard duel with Voldemort. I didn't even have a wand then."

"**Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.**

"**Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me,"** **said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it,**

"yeah, Dumbledore" yelled the children.

**but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…**

"I really thought that was your house, Love, but I am glad you are in Gryffindor."

"Me too" and she gave Harry a kiss."

**Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon." And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.**

"I am still the toadless boy, Thanks Harry"

"Sorry, didn't write this."

"**Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.**

"Ronald" yelled his mother, "Apologize right this instant. You don't do that, you hear me young man."

"Sorry, Hermione"

"It doesn't matter, back there I was not a very people person and I was a bit of a bookworm and know-it-all"

"A bit?"

"Okay, a lot"

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

George was still laughing at his younger brother.

"**What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.**

"**Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw **_**would **_**be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."**

"Mr Weasley, every house has his flaws and his strengths" said Minerva.

"**That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

"That was one of the few times I have said You-Know-Who in place of Voldemort" which caused a flinch through the room.

"**Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.**

"**You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses.**

"**So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.**

"**Charlie's in Romania studying dragons,**

"YEAH,DRAGONS" yelled Charlie.

**and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. **"**Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the **_**Daily Prophet**_**, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault." Harry stared.**

'Maybe we will finally know who that was' thought the minister and Amelia.

"**Really? What happened to them?"**

"**Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught.**

"That is really strange" said Remus.

**My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts,** **but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."**

**Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.**

"Don't worry, Harry. Just say the name." Said Albus.

"Yes, Grandpa"

This time it was Albus Dumbledore who was glowing, because Harry had told him Grandpa.

"**What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

"**Er — I don't know any." Harry confessed.**

"Let Oliver not hear that, Harry. He will get a heart attack." Said Fred, still sitting next to his mother.

"**What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world**

"Yeah, the best game" said all the Quidditch fans in the room.

—" **And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money.**

**He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.**

Draco paled when he heard that. He stood up and said

"I would like to apologize beforehand. My father told me that I needed to say this, I am very sorry.

**Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop.**

Draco just put his head in his hands.

**He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

"Of course, I had heard you was Harry Potter."

"**Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

"**Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.**

"They are. Their fathers own my father and he was ordered that their son needed to be my bodyguards. They are dumb and dumber."

The children laughed at the last bit and Draco relaxed a little bit.

"**Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle,"** **said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

"My name is Bond, James Bond." Said Harry. Which caused all the muggleborns or muggle-raised to laugh at the similarities.

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger.**

"Ronald, don't laugh at someone's name."

"Yes mum"

**Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

"**Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasley's have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."**

The Weasleys turned all a little red.

"I am sorry" said Draco

"We don't blame you, Draco. We blame your father." Said Arthur

**He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He said he needed to be friends, or something was going very wrong.**

Draco flinched. That was not a fun day, when his father found out he had made an enemy out of Harry Potter, then a friend he was supposed to be. His father had looked him in the cellar and it was not a pretty there, but still it wasn't even close from what Harry had lived through.

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

"**I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly and a bit of sorry in his voice. You are still a mystery to me and I need to protect myself' were his thoughts.**

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.**

"**I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents.**

"MISTER MALFOY, APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW TO HARRY" yelled Minerva and Severus at the same time.

Draco quickly said Sorry again, but Harry just waved it off.

**They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you." Both Harry and Ron stood up.**

"Good, get in a fight position." Said Mad-eye Moody.

Everyone just looked at him and he shrugged said "What?"

"**Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.**

"**Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered carefully**

"**Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.**

"**But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."**

**Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

"What happened?" asked everyone, who wasn't there.

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle**— **Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once.**

"Only time that rat is useful" mumbled Sirius under his breath.

**Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

Hermione blushed and was hidden once again in Harry's chest.

"**What **_**has **_**been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

"**I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No — I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep." And so he had.**

"That is just like him"

"**You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

"**I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched.**

"Like hell, he was" said Arthur.

"Arthur, language"

"Yes, dear"

**My dad doesn't believe it.**

"Told you"

**He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"**

"**You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

"**Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her.**

"Ronald, don't scowl at her"

"Yes, mum"

"**Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

"**All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice.**

"But that is so much fun" whined George.

"George, act your age"

On the outside George was pouting, but on the inside he was happy his mother could tell him and his twin now apart.

"**And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"**

**Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.**

**He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.**

**A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."**

**Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets** **and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.**

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"**

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.**

"Hagrid" yelled the children and Sirius.

Hagrid blushing from the attention.

"**C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

Neville was blushing slightly.

"**Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

"Hogwarts" said all the people in the room.

**There was a loud "Oooooh!"**

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

"My first home."

"**No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione.**

"**Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself.**

"**Right then — FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

"**Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.**

"**Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

"**Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands.**

**Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

"**Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"**

Neville again was blushing.

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

Molly looked at and said

"It is still early, shall we continue. I think we can do one more chapter, then we have some tea and then two chapter for dinner, then dinner and then two more chapters for bedtime."

"Okay" said everyone in the room.

"Who would like to read the next chapter?" asked Molly.

"I will do it, my dear" said Arthur.

Molly gave him the book. He went to the right page and read

"**Chapter 7: the sorting hat"**

**a.n note**

**I am sorry for not writing in a long time. I have had a rough couple of months. It is now almost ending, so I will take more time for writing both of my stories. I hope the next one so quick as possible to write, but the chapters are getting longer. This story has in word 29 pages and over the 10.000 words. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Please review your thoughts to me. If you have suggestions, ideas, things that could be better or you have just a complaint, just sent it in a review or PM me and I will read them on. I would like to thank everyone for their reviews. There were wonderful. Thank you. Have a nice day and have a fine Eastern.**

**MonkeyDLuffy1512**


	10. Chapter 9: sorting hat

**Text = book**

Text= reactions on book and normal conversations

(text)= thoughts

_**Text=letters and spells**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters in it. **_

Arthur went to the right page and read the next chapter.

~CHAPTER SEVEN - THE SORTING HAT~

Harry paled a little bit. Everyone would know the truth about his sorting now.

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.**

"And yet you just insist on doing so." McGonagall sighed. Harry smiled sheepishly.

"Well, if I didn't do that, the school would probably be closed by now and I love exploring."

**"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid, nodding at the woman.**

**"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." she replied, and Hagrid walked past her to help her open the giant doors.**

**They pulled the doors wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursley's house in it and still have room for a crowd of people to walk through it.**

Harry nodded. The Dursleys could fit two or three times in the great hall and there still would be a lot of space over for a crowd of people.

**The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.**

"You're descriptions are _magnificent_, Harry." Tonks breathed, her hair turning a beautiful rosy pink as she remembered her first time walking into that hall.

**They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right - the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously at the other students in the room.**

"We wanted to see our new classmates better and maybe look for potential friends" said the children.

"We were just looking for people, who we could prank with" said George and Fred, still sitting with their mother.

Molly smiled at them and said "My lovely pranksters."

**"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.**

"Free time in the house common room?, " said Harry, "That is so boring."

All the professors looked at him sternly.

**"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour.**

"It's an honour, but it just makes everyone fight even more over what happens. If someone loses a ton of points for their House, they're ostracized no matter what the reason for losing those points was. If things are bad enough, other Houses could go along with the ostracism , making the ones who lost the House Points feel awful and want nothing more than to go home for summer vacation and hope everyone would forget about the incident in September." Hermione said, eyes watering as she remembered that treatment towards the end of their first year. Neville whimpered in agreement, and the professors looked confused. _When had__this__happened?_

**I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.**

**"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."**

**Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear,**

"How did that happen?" asked Molly

"I tried to fasten it right, but the clips get stuck to my sweater and I couldn't get it right anymore without help.

**and on Ron's still smudged nose**.

Ron groaned.

"You had to mention it again, right Harry"

Harry just smiled at his best friend.

**Harry nervously attempted to flatten his hair.**

"Don't try it, Harry." Said Remus

"Nothing works for the famous Potter hair. James was always complaining over his hair." Said Sirius.

Harry just smiled. He had gotten another piece from his parents past.

**"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."**

**She left the chamber. Harry swallowed and looked at Ron.**

**"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked him. Ron shrugged.**

**"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."**

Molly looked like she wanted to say something to her son, but judging by the proud looks on the twins' faces, they had been hoping that Ron would pick up on the joke. Molly's eyes widened in consideration - had they told that to Ron, hoping that it would unnerve him?

Molly kissed both twins on their cheeks and said

"You are really good big brothers. Thanks for trying to unnerve Ron."

The twins were getting red from embarrassment. They were not used to all that attention from their mother.

**Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magic yet - what on earth would he have to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived. He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need.**

"That was making very else around her a little bit more nervous, including me." Said Ron.

Hermione was once again red and the others were laughing.

**Harry tried very hard not to listen to her. She'd never been more nervous, never, not even when the'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he'd somehow turned his kindergarten teacher's wig blue.**

Sirius grinned at his godson.

"That was an awesome piece of accidental magic, Harry. Your parents would be proud of you."

But Harry didn't hear him. He was once again lost in a memory. His uncle wasn't very happy, when he had come home and Dudley had told his parents that the teacher's wig suddenly turned blue. It was the worst beating he had ever received until that day. After that day, his uncle began using the belt more and more. It was a very bad day for the young Harry that day.

Hermione saw something was wrong with Harry. She could feel the shivers run through his body. She stood up from his lap, removed Hedwig carefully from his shoulder and began carefully shaking him.

"Harry, come back. You are safe here. It is just a memory. No one will hurt you here. Harry, it is going be okay. Trust me."

She looked in his eyes and she was shocked by the amount of the pain and loneliness she saw in his beautiful emerald green eyes. 'oh harry, don't worry. I will make sure you never have to experience such pain again' thought she.

She hugged Harry and Harry stiffed immediately. He was still in the memory. He began shivering again.

Hermione let him gone and thought about what could calm down Harry and release him from his bad memory. Then it suddenly hit her. Padfoot. She had sometimes heard Harry mention his name. It was from his good times, when his parents were still alive.

Hermione turned to Sirius and said

"Turn in Padfoot now. You are the only one who can get him out of his memory now."

Sirius transformed quickly in Padfoot and walked to Harry. He laid his head on Harry's lap and whimpered softly. It had almost immediate effect. Harry's hand found Sirius' head and began petting it.

After five minutes of petting, Harry came out of his memory. He looked around in the room and then down at his lap and saw Padfoot standing there. He knew he got stuck again in a memory.

"Harry, are you okay?" he heard Hermione asking.

He looked up and looked in her eyes, full of worry and love for him and said "No, but I will be."

He made the couch bigger where he sat on and mentioned for Padfoot to jump on it. Padfoot did that and laid his head back in Harry's lap. Harry continued petting him. Hermione sat on his right side, hugging his right arm.

"Can you tell us what the memory was?" asked Madam Pomfrey carefully.

"That day, when I turned my teacher's wig blue, I got the worst beating than I got ever from my uncle. It was the first time he used his belt on me. After this the belt became his favourite kind of punishment for me."

This caused everyone in the people to growl and to promise the Dursleys the worst punishment ever.

**He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.**

Draco snorted.

"You are really dramatic, Harry."

Which caused Harry to smile a little. His colour was returning a little bit and Draco rose a little bit in everyone's books.

**Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air - several people behind him screamed. His heart felt like it was in his throat. He had just be able to repress the flinch that he had felt coming.**

Everyone began to lean forward - did the ghosts say the same thing every year? Or was it honestly spontaneous?

Several people were saddened by the last bit. It was just wrong he flinched, or needed to repress flinches, because of those things.

**"What the -?"**

**He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"**

"So they _do_ say the same thing every year." Tonks sighed. "I was hoping it was different each year."

"They do that to see the first years as first and to give them a little heads up, there are ghosts in Hogwarts." Said Albus.

**"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?**

**He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost I say, what are you all doing here?"**

**A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.**

"Nick" cheered all the Gryffindors in the room

**Nobody answered.**

**"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"**

"No, we were just standing there for fun" said Draco sarcastic.

Harry was getting more colour by every sentence. He still petted Padfoot, but he was shaking off the effects of his bad memory.

**A few people nodded mutely.**

**"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."**

"Yeah" yelled Tonks. "Hufflepuff rocks"

**"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."**

**Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.**

**"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."**

**Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair,**

Harry and Ron smiled. 'our dear Seamus.'

**with Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.**

**Harry could have never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver.**

Everyone sighed, remembering their sorting. The anxiety the butterflies in their stomach, the feeling they got when their House cheered for them when they were sorted into it.

"Your descriptions are very accurate, Harry" said Severus smiling, Harry smiling back.

**Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper to someone near him, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in_Hogwarts, A History._" Harry knew that was true, because he had also read the book a few times in that last boring month by the Dursleys.**

Hermione was happy, that Harry also loved reading. She now had someone to chat about books.

**It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.**

"So poetic..." Bill whispered, a dreamy look in his eye as he looked up at the enchanted ceiling.

"You have really a way with words, Harry" said the oldest Weasley kid.

**Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.**

Harry was laughing. That was very true.

**Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it,**

"Muggle magic trick, it's really an optical illusion." Hermione explained for those who didn't know.

**Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing, but no that was too weird. He was now at Hogwarts with real magic. It had to be something else, but what?- noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:**

"Sing! Sing! Sing! Sing!" the twins chanted their father on. Arthur just smiled at his twins and began singing in a deep opera voice.

**_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_**

**_But don't judge on what you see,_**

**_I'll eat myself if you can find_**

**_A smarter hat than me._**

**_You can keep your bowlers black,_**

**_Your top hats sleek and tall,_**

**_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_**

**_And I can cap them all._**

**_There's nothing hidden in your head_**

**_The Sorting Hat can't see,_**

**_So try me on and I will tell you_**

**_Where you ought to be._**

**_You might belong in Gryffindor,_**

**_Where dwell the brave at heart,_**

**_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_**

**_Set Gryffindors apart;_**

**_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_**

**_Where they are just and loyal,_**

**_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_**

**_And unafraid of toil;_**

**_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_**

**_if you've a ready mind,_**

**_Where those of wit and learning,_**

**_Will always find their kind;_**

**_Or perhaps in Slytherin_**

**_You'll make your real friends,_**

**_Those cunning folk use any means_**

**_To achieve their ends._**

**_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_**

**_And don't get in a flap!_**

**_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_**

**_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_**

The room burst into applause, when Arthur was done. He had really a good singing voice. Arthur was red from all his blushing and his face was almost the same colour as his hair.

**The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.**

**"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll_kill_Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."**

The Trio snorted and exchanged grins. Dumbledore's eyes widened as he thought back to that Halloween - no, none of them _possibly_ could have... _Could they_?

**Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. He knew he could never show his true potential, because he knew he would get his punishment at home if he did. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.**

Flitwick smiled at Harry.

"If there was a house like that, nearly everyone would be in it." he squeaked.

**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.**

**"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"**

**A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause -**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!"**

Tonks and Pomena applaud for their follow Hufflepuff.

**shouted the hat.**

**The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.**

**"Bones, Susan!"**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!"~**

Again were Tonks and Pomena applauding.

**shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.**

**"Boot, Terry!"**

**"RAVENCLAW!"**

Filius, Luna and Poppy cheered for the Ravenclaw house.

**The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.**

**"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw**

Again was there applause from Luna , Filius and Poppy.

**too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor,**

The biggest applause yet, because the most people in the room were Gryffindors, while Sirius was barking happily.

**Harry could see Gred and Forge catcalling.**

An action which they happily repeated.

**"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin.**

Draco and Severus applauded for their house.

**Harry looked at the Slytherins, excepting to see a sort of monsters from the stories Hagrid and Ron had told him, but they just looked like normal kids. Harry wouldn't judge the house, until he had all the facts right.**

The professors looked at Harry and said "That is a very adult decision, Harry."

**He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him.**

Several people growled at that statement.

**"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!"**

Again were the Hufflepuffs in the room cheering.

**Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.**

The Gryffindors laughed at their good friend

**"Granger, Hermione!"**

**Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.**

Hermione half heartedly hit Harry on his arm. Harry just smiled at her.

"Too bloody observant." Hermione chuckled, making it clear to everyone she was joking.

**"GRYFFINDOR!"**

Hermione stood up and curtseyed, giggling when Fred and George were once again catcalling her.

**shouted the hat. Ron groaned as quietly as he could.**

"Ronald!" said Molly

"Sorry, Hermione" said Ron out of habit.

"Ron, it is okay, we weren't friends back there. Miss Weasley, please ignore the book Ron comments until we are friends. It is all in the past and I have forgiven him for them."

Molly nodded and Ron looked thankful to Hermione, taking Luna's hand in his own one.

**A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?**

"It's never happened at magical schools, we are very particular in making sure that we only enroll students with magical abilities so as to prevent accidentally sending invitations to muggle children and getting their hopes up for naught." McGonagall explained, making everyone nod

**When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR,"**

"I wanted it to put me in Hufflepuff, but it got its way in the end." Neville blushed, standing up and bowing as well. Harry smiled at his friend on one of the other couches and said

"It put you where you belong, Nev."

**Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."**

The Ravenclaws cheered for their fellow Ravenclaw.

**Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"**

The Slytherins cheered for their house.

**Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.**

**There weren't many people left now. "Moon" , "Nott" , "Parkinson" , then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" , then "Perks, Sally-Anne" ,**

**"It is almost so far"**

**and then, at last -**

**"Potter, Harry!"**

Everyone leaned forwards, wanting to know what the Hat said to him during her sorting. Could Harry have been in a different House, or did it always want to place him in Gryffindor?

Harry leaned back in the couches and closed his eyes.

**As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.**

**"_Potter_, did she say?"**

**"_The_Harry Potter?"**

Harry huffed, the fame was starting.

**The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a better look at him.**

"That would be bloody nerve-wracking. Not only are you nervous about what House you'll be sorted into, but now you have to worry about how _everyone_ will react." Remus growled

Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

**"_Hmm_," said a small voice in her ear._"Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either, too bad you are always hiding it. There's talent, A my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting So where shall I put you?"_**

Everyone blinked. Harry.. Literally could have gone into _any_ of the Houses?

**Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought,_Not Slytherin, not Slytherin._**

**"_Not Slytherin, eh?_" said the small voice. _May I ask why you don't want to go Slytherin so badly. Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness."_**

**"_I can't. I know I shouldn't blame the whole house for the acts from one person, but I just can't. No yet. I have just heard the person who murdered my parents sat in Slytherin. If I went there, I would only think about that. I am sorry. I just can't." _Harry could feel tears in the corners of his eyes.**

**"_I understand, child. I won't force you to go to a House where you would feel that uncomfortable. Let's see if we can find the right house for you. You are smart, but you hide it always, so not Ravenclaw. Because of your past, you don't trust people very easily, but when they have earned your trust, you would die for them and that is brave, very brave. I hope you will change your mind about Slytherin in your further years here at Hogwarts, but for now welcome to your new house_**

**GRYFFINDOR!"**

It was still in the room. Everyone was thinking about Harry's sorting and the words of him and the hat. Severus walked to Harry and kneeled before him.

"Harry look at me," Harry looked down at Severus, "It is okay, I can understand why you didn't want to go to Slytherin. No one will dislike you for that. You just needed time to process everything. Most people hate Slytherin, without even knowing us, but you not. You have a reason to not trust the house and even then you were still willing to give us a chance after you had time to sort everything out. Thank you, Harry"

And Severus hugged Harry, thinking about not smothering Sirius in the process. Padfoot lifted his head and first licked Harry and then Severus, which caused both to say "Gross, Sirius"

Everyone in the room just were smiling at them.

**Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and that the hat had listened to his plea, he hardly noticed that she was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"**

Harry stood up and bowed to the room, while everyone in the room was clapping for him. the twins were doing their victory dance again, while yelled "We got Potter! We got Potter" again. Percy shook his hand again and finally the tension left the room.

**Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.**

"They really shouldn't do that."

**He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the centre of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore.**

Most of the room cheered for Albus.

**Harry recognized him at once from the card she'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts.**

"Does it _really_?" Dumbledore asked, running a hand down his beard. McGonagall sighed and nodded, much to the amusement of everyone in the room.

**Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban that he hadn't been wearing before.**

Harry paled, thinking back to that day. Hermione gave him a quick squeeze to let him know she was there for him.

**And now there were only four people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table.**

The Gryffindors were once again cheering for their house.

**"Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw**

The Ravenclaws cheered.

**and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"**

Ron stood and bowed to the cheers from the Gryffindors and from his family.

**Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him**

**"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin.**

"I didn't sound pompously, right?"

"A little bit, Percy"

**Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.**

**Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. She had only just realized how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten any breakfast that day or the two days before that. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago and made him a little full, but still he was very hungry**

Almost immediately appeared a plate full with food in front of Harry. Harry looked at him and wanted to protest, but with all the looks which were throw at him, he thought it was wise to shut up and he began calmly eating.

**Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.**

"Nothing could, seeing all the students in the Hall, happy to be back at Hogwarts again is one of the greatest things a Headmaster could see." Dumbledore said.

Everyone gave him a standing ovation for that statement.

**"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"**

Remus and Sirius started laughing hysterically.

"We _corrupted_ you!" Sirius shouted. Dumbledore gave him a knowing smile.

"Or was it _I_ that corrupted _you_?" he asked, causing laughter to ring throughout the room.

**He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.**

**"Is he - is he a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly.**

"Mad? Of course! Every great witch or wizard has always had an ounce of madness in them!" George said, grinning. "Just look at yourself, Harry"

That action cost him a pillow in his face.

**"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"**

**Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he would like to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.**

"Why are those there?"

"I like them" said Albus.

**The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, well they didn't call it starving, they just didn't want Harry to eat food what could be eaten by their precious Duddykins.**

Cue for a lot of growls in the room.

**He was then also never allowed to eat the same things as his relatives and he had to watch his relatives eat the food he had made, while he only got some bread, water and sometimes if they were generous a piece of cheese of bacon.**

That is too much for Molly Weasley. She stood up and said very softly. "Excuse me for a bit"

She then walked to a door the room had provided for her and closed the door. The next half hour all the people in the room could hear were spells flying around, explosions, hard sounds and the most colourful words ever made by man. The Weasleys were astonished, their mother/wife had sometimes moods, most of the time because of them, but this was gigantic. They had never heard their mother/wife lose so control.

Harry was shocked. Someone had so reaction, because he didn't got to eat. It made him very happy inside of him.

After the half hour ended, Molly came back in the room and sat back on her old place. She had a satisfied look on her face. Harry walked towards her and hugged her.

"Thanks mum."

"What for, son?"

"For caring"

"Oh, Harry. You deserve it the most of all."

Harry went back to sit by Hermione and Sirius and Molly told Arthur to read on.

**Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled her plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat.**

**It was all delicious.**

**"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry as he cut up his steak.**

**"Can't you -?"**

"So polite, I still wonder where you have gotten those manners. Your relatives didn't teach you any manners, because they have no manners their selves."

"A book in the library."

**"I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service, sir. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."**

**"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you -_you're_Nearly Headless Nick!"**

**"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy -" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.**

**"Nearly Headless? How can you be_nearly_headless?"**

**Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.**

"That is not true, he loves to tell that story to all first years every year." Said Albus smiling.

**Like this," he said fake irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So - new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row!**

That made Draco and Severus smile and the Gryffindors to be sad.

**The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable - he's the Slytherin ghost, by the way."**

**Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.**

"It was awful. He kept distracting me from the food with that look." Said Draco, remembering that day clearly.

**"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.**

**"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.**

And nobody wanted to know the answer to that.

**When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate clairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding**

Stomachs growled, especially the ones form Ron and Sirius.

"Yes, Yes, we will have some snacks after this chapter. Just wait until then." Said Molly, rolling her eyes to the weird pair.

As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart,

"Those are really your favourite dessert ever, right love?"

"Yeah, they rock."

**the talk turned to their families.**

**"I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mum didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out." The others laughed,**

"THAT'S _NOT_ FUNNY! WHAT IF HE TURNED _ABUSIVE_ BECAUSE OF THAT FACT!" Severus shouted, making several people jump in the air.

Harry walked to Severus and went to sit on his lap, putting his back to Severus chest. He put Severus's arms around him and tried to calm Severus down. After a few minutes he was calm down enough to listen to the story again.

**while Harry felt a little nervous. What if his father had been like the Dursleys, and hated magic?**

"_Exactly_." Snarled Severus, still not completely healed from his bad memories.

**"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.**

**"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages.**

Several people growled at this.

**My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned**

Amelia Bones wrote that down. That was just unacceptable.

Sirius and Remus looked murderous. They didn't know Neville, but that was just unacceptable. The rest from the room had also dark looks on their faces.

**but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go.**

"HE _DROPPED_ YOU?" Minerva shrieked, making Neville look around for some help after she had grabbed him and checked him over, but nobody came. Nobody wanted to cross Minerva, when she had that look on her face.

**But I bounced all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."**

"He ought to have given you _more_ than just a toad! That is just child abuse. He will be punished" said Amelia, "And I will have a good long talk with your grandmother about this."

**On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons.**

Ron and Harry shook their head fondly at their favourite bushy-haired friend/girlfriend. Only Hermione would start a discussion about school on the first day they got there.

**("I_do_hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult -";**

"Unless you have a natural talent in it." McGonagall said, looking at Harry. "You will show your real talent now, right mister Potter."

Harry looked very nervous to his professors, which were then all looking at him.

"But my grades will be sent.."

"Of course not, Harry, you will have a new guardian, to whom we will sent your grades, one who will not punish you for getting better grades than that stupid cousin of you."

Harry nodded pleased and said "Then I will not hold back anymore."

**"You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing ").**

**Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair,**

Severus looked sternly at Harry and Harry just smiled back at him, which caused Severus to have a little smile back. He would change his ways.

**a hooked nose,**

"Stop describing that, Harry" said Severus

"I never wrote this, stop complaining to me."

**and sallow skin.**

"Are we done yet?"

**It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes - and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.**

"What happened?" asked Severus concerned, thinking back at that day if he had caused him pain.

"It wasn't your fault. It will be explained later in the book, I think and if not, then I will explain it at the end.

**"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.**

**"What is it?" asked Percy.**

**"N-nothing."**

Percy looked down at his lap. He should have trusted his gut. He had known something wasn't right with him.

While Percy was thinking that, Remus and Sirius said to Harry "I want you to promise to us, that if something is wrong or you are in pain, you will tell us immediately, no matter what we are doing and no matter what you are doing."

"What if I am in class or in an exam? I can't just walked out of that."

"Then you will tell us, the professors, and we will help you." Said Minerva.

Harry was still not completely convinced.

"I know the Dursleys didn't care about you, so it probably wouldn't have cared to them, if you were sick or in pain, but you matter to us. You have to remember that. Okay" said Remus.

Harry nodded and said "Then I promise."

**The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had gotten from the teacher's look - a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.**

Severus flinched.

"I am sorry for my behaviour those last two years. I will make it up to you."

"It doesn't matter. It is in the past."

**"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.**

**"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."**

"The more you know about them, the easier it is to defend you and your loved ones against them." Said Harry

**Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again.**

**At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again.**

**The hall fell silent.**

**"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."**

**Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.**

Molly sighed. She had known for a long time Fred and George were prankster, but now she would hear some of their pranks before they had done it. maybe they were not so bad. But she didn't liked the fact they had been in the Forbidden Forest. It was after all a Forbidden Forest.

**"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.**

People snorted. Like anyone paid attention to that rule, the professors didn't even enforce it.

**"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.**

"Or catch Neville's remembrall " Ron grinned. Everyone who didn't know how Harry got on the Quidditch team in his first year looked surprised. What was that supposed to mean?

**"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."**

"Wait, _what_?" Molly asked, confused. Sirius looked at Harry, grinning.

"You will found out why that is so, right"

"Of course. Trouble always finds me."

**Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.**

**"He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy, who looked a little cross.**

**"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere - the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."**

Percy winced. He really _had_ been a prat once he got that badge... Strangely, Harry came to his rescue in that sense.

"It probably would've actually been better to tell the Prefect what the first challenge was, that way they could've helped make sure no students met Fluffy." he said. Neville looked at him like he grew two other heads and started growling at him.

"_Fluffy_?" he asked incredulously. Harry shrugged.

"Hagrid named him."

**"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.**

Dumbledore looked shocked while many of the professors face planted on the table in front of them, which suddenly had appeared for the couches, mumbling "That boy is too bloody observing."

"Sorry 'bout that!" Harry shouted out, making several people chuckle.

**Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.**

Hermione looked at Harry and said

"I think you need to sing, Harry."

"What?"

"You have a beautiful voice."

"When have you heard me sing, anyway?"

"Sometimes I hear you late at night singing to a full moon"

"It makes me feel good. But my voice is not very good. I would like to try, but not judge me if it is bad."

Arthur gave the book to Harry.

"There are a few sentences left."

**"Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"**

**And the school bellowed:**

"Here we go." And Harry began singing in a beautiful voice.

**_"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_**

**_Teach us something please,_**

**_Whether we be old and bald_**

**_Or young with scabby knees,_**

**_Our heads could do with filling_**

**_With some interesting stuff,_**

**_For now they're bare and full of air,_**

**_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_**

**_So teach us things worth knowing,_**

**_Bring back what we've forgot,_**

**_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_**

**_And learn until our brains all rot."_**

After Harry stopped singing, it was still for a moment, but then everyone stood up and gave him a standing ovation. He had sung beautiful, his voice was like an angel's voice. Harry was blushing from all the attention he was getting from his family.

"Harry, that was beautiful." Said Sirius and Remus.

"Thank you" said a still blushing Harry.

He gave quickly the book back to Arthur and hide behind Hermione on a couch.

**Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march.**

The twins in question grinned - they _loved_ doing that.

**Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.**

Some people cheered, causing everyone else to laugh.

**"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"**

"What are we, _horses_?" Ron asked.

**The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He had never been in his whole life, he meant the life by the Dursleys, be so satisfied, most of the time he went to bed hungry. He was very sleepy, but he still continued watching everything around him. It were just his instincts, so he noticed that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, and that twice Percy lead them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. He just didn't show it.**

"Good instincts" said Moody, while the rest just growled that he got that instincts from living by those things.

**They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.**

**A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.**

**"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves show yourself."**

**A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.**

**"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"**

"Don't use the Bloody Baron card that soon" whimpered Sirius.

Harry just had a twinkle in his eyes, which Sirius saw and said

"What have you done?"

"Nothing" said Harry very innocently, which fooled no one.

**There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.**

**"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"**

**He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked quickly to avoid being hit.**

**"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.**

**Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed.**

**"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."**

**At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.**

The Gryffindors smiled when their portrait was mentioned.

**"Password?" she said.**

**"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it - Neville needed a leg up - and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs. Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase - they were obviously in one of the towers - they found their beds at last: six four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains.**

The Gryffindors smiled at their house.

**Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pyjamas and fell into bed.**

**"Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get off, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets."**

**Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once.**

**Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully - and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it - then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking.**

"I can't even remember that dream" said Harry

**He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.**

"That would explain it" said Harry.

"That is the end of the chapter, who wants to read next?"

"I will, Dad" said Bill.

Bill summoned the book to himself and went to the right chapter'

'**Chapter eight: The Potions Master'**

a.n note

**Here a new chapter for you. I had some extra time because it is Eastern. Have fun with a new chapter, The next one will probably be in one month or a little bit sooner. Have a nice day and please review. Without those I can't tell if people like my story. If I don't get more reviews, I am thinking about stopping, I will then only read for my entertainment. I will not put more chapters on his site, if people don't like it. so tell me if you like it and I will continue, or else I will stop here and now. I would love to continue.**

**MonkeyDLuffy1512**


	11. Chapter 10: the potions master

**Text = book**

Text= reactions on book and normal conversations

'text'= thoughts

_**Text=letters and spells**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters in it. **_

Bill went to the right page and read the next chapter title

Chapter 8 The Potions Master

'_Ah crap_' thought Snape, 'This is going be a nightmare.'

**"There, look."**

**"Where?"**

**"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."**

"Thanks for noticing me."

**"Wearing the glasses?"**

"**Did you see his face?"**

**"Did you see his scar?"**

"Let the annoying gawking begin" Harry grumbled. Everyone looked saddened by that.

**Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. Harry wished they wouldn't, because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes.**

"That must have been annoying, especially you were not used to it." said Remus.

"It was annoying, but now I am used to it. I simply don't care anymore what certain people think of me. I am me and I won't change myself for them, just because they want someone, a hero."

**There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. Harry found that every day he was learning more of the Hogwarts. He had found short-cuts and used them then also very often to escape the crowds. He pretended it was very hard to remember where anything was, just he could when there was danger, escape very easily. Ron had more trouble, because it all seemed to move around a lot. Harry helped him and his classmates as much as he could without betraying his secret routes. He also noticed that the people in the portraits kept going to visit each other and he was sure he had seen the coats of armour walk.**

Again were the people, except for Harry saddened by this new discovery. He was even looking for danger on Hogwarts. They couldn't believe he had fooled them so easily.

Ron hit Harry with a pillow.

"OW, Why did you do that?"

"Because you knew the routes and you let us walking like fools for the first week."

Harry smiled, "That was really fun" which resulted in another pillow in his face. He then began fighting back with a pillow and a second later, all the children, Sirius and Remus were having a pillow fight. The adults, except Sirius and Remus who were fighting with the children, was looking happy at the crowd. All that damage and he could still smile and have fun with friends.

After 20 minutes, the fight was done and Bill continued the story.

**The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Harry could always just on the right time suppress his flinches when that happened.**

Cue for another round of growls at the Dursleys.

**Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"**

"James taught him that" Sirius said with a smirk

**Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning.**

"What had you done?" asked Fred interested.

**Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor.**

"That is brilliant" said George.

**He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.**

"That was convenient" said everyone who knew what happened that year, which caused strange looks by the others.

**Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins and Harry himself) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick. Harry loved animals, but even he didn't like Mrs. Norris. When he was alone in a corridor and he met her, he always transformed in his wolf form and scared her. You probably wonder what he meant met his wolf form. You see, when he was seven, his family had left him one day alone in the forest on a full moon. He spent all the day and night in the forest alone, but then the full moon came and he also came.**

**Harry had fallen in sleep, until he was woken up by a strange sound, it sounded like growls from a dog, but it was not a dog. It was a creature Harry had never seen before. It was grey, as tall as a grown up man, but with claws, tail and a wolf head. His amber glowing eyes looked straight at Harry and then it attacked. It got Harry in the arm and it bite him. The arm felt it was on fire, he focused on his magic and the red glow, which he was taught by his mother, left his body. It slammed in the creature and knocked it unconscious. Harry felt the fire spreading over his body, Harry now concentrated on the white glow in himself and he felt the fire slowly disappearing, a black smoke coming out of his wound, after a few minutes it was done and Harry felt himself again. He walked to the creature and tried to help him.**

**He willed his magic to go in the creature and he saw also the same black smoke coming off the creature, which turned the creature back in a man. Harry made sure the man was warm and safe and then he left. After three days he was back by the Dursleys. His uncle gave him another beating, saying it was for not completing his chores for three days, but Harry knew it was because he had come back. He didn't want to, but what choice had he? He had nobody. He found out the creature was a werewolf from the library and he founded out that he now had his wolf form and better senses. He found out that when he was in his wolf form, he could feel the pain less, so he transformed every night in his wolf form, transforming back before the time for breakfast was. He loved it. He was very happy to chase Mrs. Norris down the corridors.**

Everyone looked shocked at the book and then at Harry.

"That is the reason you were bitten. Those things left you on a full moon in a forest one your own when you were seven" growled Remus angry, his eyes changing a little bit amber.

Harry nodded. Hermione gave him a hug. 'Her brave selfless man. Even after that creature had attacked him, he still wanted to help him and he did. That man was probably surprised he wasn't a werewolf anymore.'

**And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.**

"That sounds familiar" Harry said looking at Snape

**They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout,**

"Humph, I am not a dumpy little witch" said Professor Sprout pouting.

**where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. Harry found it very easily, because of all the garden work he had to do for his aunt, but of course he hid this fact.**

Again everyone was saddened he felt the need to hide his real potential.

**Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up. Harry used those hours to work other lessons, while he learned History on his own in the library.**

"Binns is truly a bother. We don't learn anything there." Said Harry

"We must try to found another person for the job and make sure Professor Binns can cross over in peace." Said Albus.

**Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.**

Filius turned red, when he heard that, which caused the others to smile at the tiny professor.

**Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.**

"Of course, Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn here. Anyone who will mess around in my classes, will leave my class." Said Minerva.

**"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."**

Everyone looked at the book and then at Minerva. She had almost completely said what her book-self had said. Scary.

**Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. Harry focused his magic in his wand and visualized in his head his match changing in a silver match. He opened his eyes and saw he had transformed his match in a silver needle . He quickly hide his now newly formed needle and looked around or someone had see him, luckily for him, nobody had noticed. He changed his needle back and pretended if he had a lot of difficulty with the assignment. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger, beside Harry had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile. Harry was happy for her.**

Minerva looked at Harry and gave him a glare clearly saying 'You will no longer hide your potential, you hear me Harry James Potter.

Hermione was sad, because he had to hide his talent, only because his relatives punished him when he was good in school. Hermione just hugged Harry tightly and let a few lone tears fall in his neck. Harry just hugged her back as tightly.

**The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.**

'That was not garlic and that turban wasn't given by a African prince. It was a cover for Voldemort. It gave him proof of the truth he had always believed. Adults are weak, children are strong, but maybe not all adults are weak, because those people are adults and still are they trying to help me.' Thought Harry.

**Harry was very relieved to find out that he wasn't miles behind everyone else, after a few days he was even miles for all the others. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like him, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start.**

Ron just smiled at his best friend.

**Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once, only because Harry couldn't take it anymore. He wouldn't get lost again.**

"Nice work, most people still get lost throughout the 1st month" said Sirius.

**"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge. It was one of the few things he could eat in the morning, without upsetting his stomach.**

Cue for more growls in the room.

"**Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them - we'll be able to see if it's true."**

"I have to favour Slytherin for two reasons, one to balance out the other heads. The other houses are very biased to Slytherin and I have to protect my students and two was because I am.. was a death eater and it would be suspicious for all the death eater children of I didn't favour them. They would tell their parents and that can be troublesome for me later."

"I understand, professor" said Harry, while the other professors looked a little bit ashamed of themselves. It was true they usually blamed Slytherin for the fights between them and other houses, but that would change.

**"Wish McGonagall favoured us," said Harry. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before. Of course Harry had already finished it, but Ron wasn't even started yet.**

That earned Ron a glare of Minerva and his mother.

"Young man, you better make your homework on time" said Molly sternly

"Yes Mum and thanks Harry" while giving Harry a little push in the ribs

"Sorry, mate, Like I said earlier, I didn't knew my thoughts would be published in a book in the future."

**Just then, the mail arrived. Harry had gotten used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.**

Hedwig was awake again and was sitting once again on Harry's shoulder, nipping his ear affectionately.

**Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the Owlery with the other school owls.**

"Something that has continued to this day" Harry announced proudly, stroking his owl carefully. Hedwig loved it, when he did that.

**This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:**

Hagrid blushed.

**Dear Harry,**

**I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?**

**I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.**

**Hagrid**

"You've always had such a big heart Hagrid, thanks for taking care of Harry, my son" said Molly.

Which caused Hagrid to blush some more and stumbled an answer, which nobody could hear, not even Remus, Sirius and Harry with their super hearing. Not Harry could have heard it anyway, because just like Hagrid he turned as red as a tomato, when Molly called him son like that.

**Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again after giving her a bit of toast and thanking her for delivering the letter.**

**It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far.**

Severus paled even further and put his head in his hands. Harry gently lifted Hermione from his lap and put her down. He then walked to Severus and stood for him.

"Severus, please look at me."

Severus shook his head and said "I was so horrible to you, how could you have forgiven me and get rid of the dark mark that I had, when I was so horrible to you."

"It is true you treated me badly, but I felt something else from you. An enormous amount of pain and sadness, so I didn't like it, but I tolerated it, because it made you feel a little better after every lesson.

Harry took Severus head from his hands and uncurled the man again. He then said on his lap, resting his head against Severus chest. He put his professor's arms around him and said that Bill could read on.

Sirius was watching this with a concerned look, but he didn't do anything, mainly because Remus stopped him from doing anything rash by holding him back by his arm.

**At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry - he hated him, but underneath that hatred was something else. A lot of pain and sadness and Harry wondered why that was and why he was the cause of two very strong, but very different emotions at the same time. Harry wondered what was the cause of them, but he knew better than anyone that not everyone talked about their feelings and Harry got a strong feeling Severus Snape would not talk about his feelings and especially not with him.**

"Harry, you have very accurate feelings" said the women in the room

"It is a gift" said Harry smiling, still sitting on his teacher's lap. He could hear and feel that Severus's heartbeat was beating faster than normally it would have been. He tried to calm him down with his presence, but it didn't help very much. Harry hoped that this chapter would be over soon.

**Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.**

**Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.**

**"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity."**

Severus shuddered. 'This is hell' thought he.

**Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands.**

Which caused the present Draco to hit his head with his hand.

**Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels, but when Harry looked him in the eyes, he saw a flash of loneliness in them.**

"They say that you can see the life of a person in their eyes. You lost people, so your eyes became lonely and dark." Said Harry to Severus, who was still curled around Harry.

**"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."**

"That was really a good speech, until that part on the end of it. You don't call your students dunderheads." Said the professors, Poppy and Albus.

**More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.**

Hermione sighed, he really paid too much attention to everything' thought she jokily

**"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"**

"That is a question which isn't covered in the first year, Severus" said Minerva sternly

**Draught of the living death. Thought Harry, but he knew he would never tell his teacher that. He wasn't allowed, it was too bad, from the moment he had read about potions, it become easily his favourite subject. Harry had his face in a manner of confusion, when he glanced at Ron, he saw he was as stumped as he was, while like he was pretending to be; Hermione's hand had shot into the air.**

That caused Severus to look up. "Potions is your favourite subject."

"Yes, it calms me down."

Severus just stared at Harry and said "I will make you the best student I have ever had in Potions. I guess your mother lives forth in you. She always told me she loved potions and so do I. We used to brew together in an unused classroom, just we together."

Harry looked at Severus and saw he was calming down a bit.

**"I don't know, sir," said Harry.**

**Snape's lips curled into a sneer.**

**"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."**

"God I was such a marauder" Snape groaned "Yeah you were … HEY!" Sirius yelped, causing the rest to smile.

**He ignored Hermione's hand.**

**"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"**

**Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry pretended not to know what a bezoar is. He knew it was a stone, which can be found in a stomach of a goat and that it will save you from most poisons. He could hear Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle laughing, but he didn't pay any attention to them.**

**"I don't know, sir."**

**"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold but lonely eyes. He could remember everything he had read, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi was the book he had read the most, but it wasn't like he could tell his professor that. The Dursleys would kill him. Even if he would tell him that, the bezoar wasn't even in that book.**

Severus was hitting himself on the head mentally.

**Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.**

**"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and Wolfsbane?"**

"Name, professor" Neville answered surprising a lot of people, including Severus.

"How did you know that?"

"It is a plant and I love plants, so I know a lot about them." Making Pomena smile at him.

**At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.**

At this Sirius began laughing.

**"I don't know," said Harry quietly, thinking in his head 'they are the same plant, also named Aconite' "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"**

"That is Lily's cheek"

**A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye, and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased. In his head Harry hit himself, why did he tell that? He was screwed.**

**"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and Wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"**

"Because you didn't tell them to, Severus" said Minerva

"You don't have to snap at your students."

"I am sorry"

**There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter." Harry was pleased**

"Hey that's … perfectly reasonable" said Fred

"But why are you pleased, Harry"

**Harry had expected a least a caning for that. If he had done that at the Dursleys, his uncle would have whipped him, sent him to his cupboard for three days before suddenly remembering he was there, give him a list of chores and if he could finish them all on time, he would get something to eat. Hogwarts was not so bad.**

At this most people stood up and walked to an area the room had just provided for them with a lot of things that could break and a lot of targets, who looked a lot like the Dursleys. It was only after 1 hour, everyone was calm enough to listen to the story again.

**Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.**

"Of course, he is my godfather." Said Draco.

**He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke**

"Oh, something went wrong," said Minerva, "Who was it?"

Which caused Neville to turn red and it caused Ginny to give Neville's hand a little squeeze.

**and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was sweeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.**

"Poor boy, were you alright?" asked Molly concerned.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley. Madam Pomfrey had healed me in a second."

**"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"**

"Don't call your students idiot boys, Severus" said Minerva sternly

"Before you begin a lecture, first bring them to me, so that I can heal them, understand Severus" said Poppy.

Severus nodded, feeling like a student again when he got scolded by the two women.

**Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.**

**"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.**

**"You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."**

"Ok, NOW he's being unfair" Moody growled.

**This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, he hated it when he was being treated like dirt, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.**

**"Don't push it," he muttered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."**

"I am sorry"

"Doesn't matter anymore."

**As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. He'd lost two points for Gryffindor in his very first week - why did Snape hate him so much?**

**"Cheer up," said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George.(The twins stand up and bow at this)Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"**

"Good boy" said Molly to her youngest son and smiled a little sadly when Ron began glowing from the compliment. She made there the promise to help her children more and to make sure that each and every one of them knew she loved them more than anything in the world.

**At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.**

**When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang - back."**

**Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.**

**"Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."**

**He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.**

Harry began laughing. Filius asked him what was wrong and Harry answered.

"By Hagrid the ones with a vicious name are the sweetest animals on the planet. You have to be careful of the ones with a nice name."

**There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. Harry felt more at home than by the Dursleys.**

Which made Hagrid very happy and the rest sad.

**"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.**

**"This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.**

**"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."**

That caused them stern glares from their mother, father and their head of house.

**The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes. Harry petted Fang behind his ears and Fang was happy.**

**Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git."**

**"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her - Filch puts her up to it."**

**Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.**

**"But he seemed to really hate me."**

**"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"**

"He is Snape" said Sirius seriously ( no pun intended)

**Yet Harry couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet his eyes when he said that. He knew there was something Hagrid wasn't telling him.**

**"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot - great with animals."**

"Wow Hagrid did a good subject change, that's surprising" Remus commented

**Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet :**

"You really can't resist sticking your nose in things can you Harry?" Neville joked

"Shut Up!" Harry retorted blushing

**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST**

**Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.**

**Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.**

**The smarter people in the room knew that date and turned to Harry to ask about it, but Harry shook his head and Bill continued.**

**"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes goblin this afternoon.**

**Harry remembered Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date.**

**"Hagrid!" said Harry, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"**

"It was just a second later" mumbled Harry

**There was no doubt about it; Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes this time. He grunted and offered him another rock cake. Harry read the story again. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?**

"Yes"

**As Harry and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Harry thought that none of the lessons he'd had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry? Harry had a lot to think about.**

"That was the end of the chapter" said Bill, "Who wants to read next?"

"I will, Bill" said Charlie. He took the book from his older brother and read the next chapter

"**Chapter 9 " The Midnight Duel"**

**a.n Hello everyone, I have gotten some reviews and more people who are following this story, so I have decided to continue the story. I have exams in three weeks, so I wanted to give you a new chapter for that time. I will not post another chapter for at least five weeks, My exams are two weeks. After that I will have three months vacation, so then I will write soon more. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. I would like to thank everyone for their review, please sent more.I love to read them. If you have questions, please sent them to me in a review and I will try to answer them. Have a nice day.**

**Bye-bye**

**MonkeyDLuffy1512**


	12. Chapter 11: midnight duel

**Text = book**

Text= reactions on book and normal conversations

'text'= thoughts

_**Text=letters and spells**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters in it. **_

_**Hello Everyone, welcome back by another chapter of this story. I hope you will enjoy it, it was a very long chapter to write. In Word it was 27 pages, so it was a lot of typing, but I am proud of the end result. **_

_**Enough talking, here is the eleventh chapter of **__**Hp characters read the hp books.**_

_**bye bye, have fun reading**_

Charlie went to the right page and read the chapter title

"**Chapter 9 " The Midnight Duel"**

**Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he disliked more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy. He could see the boy was hiding something, but his attitude was beginning to annoy Harry.**

Draco was shocked. Harry Potter compared him to that horrible cousin of him. if he was being compared to that, he had to be bad.

"I am sorry." Said Draco

"Don't worry about it, it is okay now. We are friends now, right."

Draco nodded.

**Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't met Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons**

"Why were you all groaning," asked Sirius, "Flying lessons are awesome."

"It is in the next sentence, Sirius" said Charlie, still a little shakily because of the fact that the Sirius Black was sitting a few meters from him.

**Would be starting on Thursday – and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.**

"Ah" said Sirius, "That would suck"

"MISTER BLACK, LANGUAGE" yelled Minerva, which caused Remus to held his hands over his ears, which made Minerva feel guilty for hurting him and apologizing to him.

"**Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."**

"I don't quite remember it going that way" laughed Ron.

**He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else. It always had been a dream of him, because of the dream he always had, when he was younger, of the giant on the flying motorbike over the cities.**

Sirius was proud and happy that Harry remembered his flying bike. He loved that bike. He wondered where it now was.

"**You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."**

"He was good, but I was better." Laughed Harry

Which caused Draco to glare half-heartedly at him.

**Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. It was those moments where Harry could see the boy the young Malfoy heir really was, just a young boy like him and Ron. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. It was fun to listen to, especially when Harry heard Draco trying to describe a helicopter, while he was actually describing a plane and those didn't flew at the heights Draco was describing.**

This caused some laughter in the room and the cheeks from the mentioned boy to turn slightly pink.

**He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick.**

**Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom.**

All the Weasleys froze. "That was you?" yelled the twins.

Ron just smiled sheepishly at this brothers.

"We got blamed for that!" said the twins in shock.

"While that was my revenge for turning my teddy bear in a spider." Said Ron a bit angrily.

"Ron, I am sorry that the twins did that to you, but never blame your brothers for something they didn't do, understand." Said his mother, while his father was trying badly to cover his laugh.

"Understand, mum"

**Everyone from Wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly.**

**Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about soccer. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly.**

"I still can't see it" said Ron, which caused the room to laugh again.

**Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham soccer team, trying to make the players move.**

Ron's ears turned red from embarrassment, which caused the others to laugh even harder.

Arthur was pleased his son was interested in Muggle things, even it was only to make something move.

**Neville had never been on a broomstick, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Harry felt it was a fault from Neville's grandmother. If Neville had flew before Hogwarts, maybe he would have more confidence here on Hogwarts. Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents with both feet on the ground, but Harry knew that was only because he lacked the confidence to stand up for himself. Harry knew how that felt, after all he never stood for himself up, when he lived by the Dursleys.**

"Thanks Harry" said Neville

"You're welcome" said Harry back.

**Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book – not that she hadn't tried.**

"Why did you mention me by my full name?" asked Hermione curiously

Harry blushed. "That was easily, I would always blush, if I thought about you or when I said your name, so I just said your full name and it wouldn't be so bad. I was afraid of being near you and messing up."

Hermione was shocked. Harry had liked her from the beginning, even when they didn't were even friends. She just hugged him and gave him a sweet kiss on his cheek, which caused Sirius and the twins to whistle at them, which they just ignored.

**At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry had of course read the book long again and had memorized the whole book. Even he was a little bored with Hermione when she couldn't stop mentioning every little detail out of the book.**

This caused Hermione to feel a little hurt. Harry saw it and hugged her, while saying

"I don't feel like that anymore. I was also a little jealous, because you could show your intellect, while I was punished because of it in the past. Don't let it hurt your feelings. I love you, Hermione Jane Granger, please remember that."

Hermione smiled at Harry and cuddled with him on the sofa.

**Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later,**

"Didn't help" Neville remembered grimly.

**But everybody else was very please when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail.**

**Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course.**

Draco quickly apologized, but Harry told him again it was in the past.

**Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly, and a little afraid, at the Slytherin table.**

**A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed the a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke**

"**It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things- this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red- oh..." his face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "... you've forgotten something..."**

"That is completely useless, because it won't tell you what you have forgotten, only that they have forgotten something. That would drive you mad." Said Hermione a little angrily.

**Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.**

"Told you so"

"I am sorry for that, Longbottom" said Draco.

"Like Harry said before, it is in the past and it is Neville, Malfoy"

"Only if you call me Draco"

"It is a deal" said Neville, while standing up and shaking hands with Draco.

**Harry and Ron jumped to their feet, Ron looking like he was hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy and Harry because he wanted to make sure Ron didn't do something stupid, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school ,was there in a flash.**

"Of course, I have taught both the Marauders and those two", pointing to the twins, "I had to became quicker to make sure there were no problems in the school."

"**What's going on?"**

"**Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."**

**Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.**

"**Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.**

**At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day,**

"Perfect flying conditions," sighed the twins

**And the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.**

**The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George Weasleys complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.**

"Ah, those brooms like awful. You never can fly decently with them." Complained Fred and George.

"Don't worry, there is one person who can fly with anything in his world, isn't it Harry" said Ron smiling.

"Just shut up, Ron. It wasn't that great."

Which caused several people to snort in the room and the others, who didn't know what happened to be very confused.

**Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.**

The teachers laughed at their fellow teacher's description.

"**Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."**

**Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.**

Causing the most people to groan. Harry had one of the worst brooms he could pick out.  
**  
**"**Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"**

**"UP" everyone shouted.**

**Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once,**

"Nice", echoed Fred and George.

**but it was one of the few that did. Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid,**

Minerva looked thoughtful. _Interesting theory. I should tell that to Rolanda._

"Makes sense", said Hermione, "Because I was very keen to keep both feet on the ground".

"So was I, but in the end it worked out, right. We got an awesome seeker out of it."

"What?," said Sirius and Remus, "What does he mean?"

"We will see" said Harry, with Hermione laughing at his lap.

**thought Harry; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.**

Neville and Hermione blushed.

**Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Ron was delighted and Harry felt a little bit joy, when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.**

'He is really a strange boy' thought Draco.

**"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle - three - two-"**

**But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.**

**"Come back, boy!"**

"Trust me, I wanted to", groaned Neville.

**she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and –**

Minerva paled. She had been so caught up in Harry's flying she had forgotten Neville had been hurt.

**WHAM - a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.**

"What happened with that broom?" asked Neville.

"I found it in the forbidden forest and brought it back with me to Hogwarts." Said Hagrid.

**Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.**

"Poor boy" said the women in the room, causing Neville to become once again red as a tomato.

**"Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy - it's all right, up you get."**

**She turned to the rest of the class.**

**"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."**

Minerva groaned, "She left you alone, that was a disaster waiting to happen."

**Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.**

**No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.**

"I am sorry" said Draco

"Draco, stop now, we know now the truth, don't apologize for everything in the past. It is not necessary. Don't blame yourself for it." said Neville and Harry.

**"Did you see his face, the great lump?"**

**The other Slytherins joined in.**

"I will have words with them"

**"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.**

"Thanks", murmured Neville.  
**  
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl.**

Which caused Draco to laugh very hard, which caused most people to look shocked at the Malfoy heir. Most of the time Draco didn't laugh like that, but just smiled a little. It was a positive change.

**"Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."**

**"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."**

**The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.**

**"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. He didn't want to do this, draw attention to himself, but he knew from experience that your possessions are precious, especially the ones from family. He would get Neville's possession back. Everyone stopped talking to watch.**

"Watch, not help", noticed Remus.

**Malfoy smiled nastily, but a little bit of shock was in there too.**

**"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree?"**

"I am Sorry."

"DRACO!" yelled Neville, which caused Draco to jump in the air.

"Stop apologizing for everything in the past. It is okay, now. Don't apologize anymore."

Draco nodded.

**"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well.**

"You are better."

**Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"**

**Harry grabbed his broom. His instincts told him that he could do this and his mother had always told him to trust his instincts.**

"You have great instincts, Potter," said Mad-Eye, " You will be a great Auror"

**"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all into trouble."**

**Harry ignored her, but it hurt him for some reason. His instincts were screaming at him now, he needed to fly, or else he would get hurt.**

"You got hurt from ignoring me?" asked Hermione with a small voice.

"Yes, you are mine and even then I knew that you were special."

Hermione gave him a little gentle kiss on his lips.

The others in the room were thinking about Harry's instincts. Why needed he to fly so badly?

**Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him - and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught - this was easy, this was wonderful. He was free, nothing could hurt him here, he felt his entire being screaming from joy, he was born to do this, he was born to fly.**

"It sounds so much more pleasant when you describe it", grumbled Hermione, who remembered her first flying experience as being anything but easy and wonderful.

The others looked shocked at each other, what was going on? Why did he loved being in the air so much?

"Maybe he is a bird animagus" suggested Minerva, whispering to her colleagues, which most teachers agreed on.

**He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.**

"Sounds like you were pretty good", complimented Charlie.

"You have no idea how good", laughed Ron when Harry blushed.

He felt he wasn't very good, but he just felt safe and comfortable up in the sky.

**He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned.**

**"Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"**

"Oh, Harry, you really wanted to knock me off that broom?"

"Of course, not. I just wanted to scare you, I hate violence."  
**  
"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.**

**Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.**

"Impressive" said Charlie and Bill.

**"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.**

**The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.**

"If they were there, they would only be in the way. Those two are dumber and slower than a slug."

**"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.**

Severus glowered at Draco.

"Draco, how is it that I recall another story of that time?"

Draco looked a little bit scared to Severus, "Because you were dreaming?" said he a little voice, which caused the twins to laugh and Severus to scowl at Draco.

"Draco!"

"Okay, I lied, I am not supposed to get in trouble, Father will knock me out if he knew that" the last part whispering so softly that Severus couldn't hear me, but Harry could and he promised himself at that moment he would help Draco.

**Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down - next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball - wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching - he stretched out his hand - a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.**

"HARRY POTTER!" Screeched Molly. "You could have broken your neck!"

"Chill, mum. It is two years ago, and I was fine. I wouldn't have crashed, trust me. It was okay."

The only reason Molly calmed down a bit is because of the fact Harry called her mum again, but she was still a little upset that he would have so little respect for his own life.

**"HARRY POTTER!"**

"Mister Weasley, must you shout so loud?" asked Pomena

"Yes, professor, it is in capitals and I have just a loud voice, so it is what louder than most people's voice."

"Give us a warning next time you are shouting, then we have time to protect our ear drums." Said Severus.  
**  
His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. He got to his feet, trembling. He had done it now. It was so stupid from him, first lesson from the Dursleys about school, don't stand out. Don't let anyone notice you? And here went that rule like smoke in the sky. He was doomed.**

"Harry, it is okay to stand out. You need to forget all the rules the Dursleys gave you. They are wrong, okay" said the teachers.

Harry nodded, but was still not completely convinced, not he showed that.

**"Never - in all my time at Hogwarts-"**

**Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, " - how dare you - might have broken your neck-"**

**"It wasn't his fault, Professor-"**

**"Be quiet, Miss Patil-"**

**"But Malfoy-"**

**"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."**

"You could have let them explain", admonished Arthur and Minerva looked rather sheepish.

**Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle. He was going to be punished, he just knew it. it was going be bad, he just knew.**

"Ah the return of the Potter optimism", sighed Fred.

Everyone sighed, they really needed to work out any doubts from Harry, maybe after his chapter.

**He wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up.**

Minerva cringed. She was so excited to found a new seeker and here was Harry thinking the worst. She really should have talked to him.

**Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks. He'd be packing his bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when he turned up on the doorstep?**

"Nothing good", scowled Tonks.

**Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to him.**

Harry stifled a laugh when he noticed how McGonagall looked like a chastised child.

**She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore. He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant. His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and the others becoming wizards, while he stumped around the grounds carrying Hagrid's bag.**

There was some giggling but not much as in truth it was a terribly depressing thought. '_To want to be 'gamekeeper assistant' rather than return to your own family?'_

**Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.**

**"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"**

The Gryffindors cheered at the mention of their former captain.

**Wood? thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him? He knew it, this was just going to be like the Dursleys. She wouldn't even let him explain what happened. He took some steps backwards, he knew he could never escape her, but he could try, couldn't he?**

Minerva paled drastically, before turning slightly green.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "We do not use corporal punishment in Hogwarts and we have no intention of bringing it back", also slightly green

Sirius took Harry and put him on his lap. He began talking small talk in the boy's ear, so he would relax.

"Harry, know this. At Hogwarts and by us will never ever someone lay a hand on you. Remember that, nobody will ever hurt you again like that, okay, I promise, pup." Tears in his eyes at the end.

Harry turned around and hugged his godfather.

Charlie read on, still shaken form Harry's thoughts. How could a human being be so cruel to another human being?  
**  
But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.**

**"Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry, Harry scared at the boy.**

**"In here."**

**Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.**

**"Out, Peeves!" she barked, which caused Harry to jump a little. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing.**

"How do you do that?" Asked Tonks.

Minerva just smiled mysteriously and motioned for Charlie to continue.

**Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys.**

**"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood - I've found you a Seeker."**

**Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.**

**"Are you serious, Professor?"**

"No, I am Sirius" which lead to a hit on the head from Remus for having used that terrible pun again.

**"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"**

**Harry nodded silently. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he didn't seem to be being expelled or worse beaten, and some of the feeling started coming back to his legs. He was safe.**

Cue another round of growls for the Dursleys.

**"He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."**

Charlie looked surprised, he was both flattered he was used for reference as a good Quidditch player, and amazed a first year was supposedly better than him.  
**  
Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.**

"Oh they had", said Fred and George.

**"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly.**

**"Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.**

**"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light - speedy –**

Several blanched. He was only that size, because of the treatment of the Dursleys.

**we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor - a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."**

**"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule.**

"Bend?" Asked Severus as though he was very surprised, "Don't you mean shatter into tiny pieces?"

"Oh shut up, Severus, I was not going to accept another defeat for another year." Said Minerva teasing.

The children just looked shocked at their professor. They never heard their professor teasing before and not to mention, she was teasing Severus Snape, the Potions Master and he was okay with it, because he was teasing her back.

Harry was looking at the two and was silently laughing. Severus was becoming more open and open, since the reading. That was good, he deserved some slack.

**Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks..."**

The children laughed, still watching Severus and Minerva teasing each other.  
**  
Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry.**

**"I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you."**

"I was so happy with that." Said Harry  
**  
Then she suddenly smiled.**

**"Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."**

"What position did he play?" Asked Harry.

"Chaser", Remus answered, "And Sirius was a beater".

"And you?" Asked Ron.

Remus coughed slightly, "Commentator, I too was rather keen to keep my feet on the ground".

"Me too," said Hermione, "Those boys love to fly, but I just love to keep both of my feet on the safe ground."

Harry just laughed at her and gave her another kiss on the cheek.

**"You're joking."**

**It was dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Ron what had happened when he'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.**

"You made Ron forget about food?" Asked Ginny, stunned almost speechless.

**"Seeker ?" he said. "But first years never - you must be the youngest house player in about-"**

**"- a century," said Harry, placing the most delicious treacle pie ever into his mouth.**

"You really love treacle pie" said Hermione laughing.

"Those are the best"

**He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me."**

**Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry.**

**"I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."**

The children snorted. No one could keep a secret in Hogwarts, only the trio adventures were mostly secrets.

**Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over.**

**"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too - Beaters."**

**"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."**

**"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."**

**"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."**

"Impressive" said Sirius, "May I assume you are this generation's pranksters?"

"Yes, we are, we try to make our heroes proud, even if we don't know who they are."

"Who are your heroes?"

"Prongs, Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail, the Marauders." Said the twins

Remus stared shocked at the twins and a second later Sirius burst out in laughing so hard, he fell off the couch on the ground. After a few minutes he was calmed down enough to be able to talk enough and said to Remus

"Never thought we would be heroes, right Moony."

"Shut up, Padfoot."

It only lasted a second, until the twins had progressed the last two sentences, before he run to the two and asked

"You are really Moony and Padfoot?"

"Yes"

Fred and George began bowing, which had Sirius laughing and Remus frowning.

"Stop, we aren't heroes. Some of our pranks were very cruel and some decisions we made those days still haunt me. It is okay if you like your pranks, but make sure you never use pranks as harmful toys. Don't hurt people with your pranks, promised."

Fred and George nodded. "We never hurt people with our pranks and we tested everything on ourselves out before we use them on other people."

"Then it is okay. Maybe we will tell you some harmless pranks from our days."

"We love to hear them."

**Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone slightly less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.**

**"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"**

**"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry with a slight shiver in his voice, still thinking about what could have happened, if he was really punished.**

The last sentence produced another round of growls for the Dursleys.

**There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.**

"That is very much like a Slytherin, Harry" said Severus, "We usually don't fight with wands, but with words."

**"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only - no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"**

**"Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm his second, who's yours?"**

"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! YOU DIDN'T JUST ACCETEPTED A WIZARD'S DUEL FOR HARRY, WHEN HE PROBABLY DIDN'T EVEN HEARD ABOUT IT!" yelled Molly.

Ron was smiling sheepishly to his mother.

"Mum, calm down, it is okay. Nothing happened, it is okay" said Harry trying to reason with his newly found mother.

Once again the only reason Molly Weasley backed down, was because Harry calling her mother again. She loved the boy like a son and now he was calling her mum every time he spoke to her. She felt herself glowing, she loved him so much.

**Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.**

**"Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."**

"He won't show up," said Mad-Eye Moody darkly.

**When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other.**

**"What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry a little angry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"**

**"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie.**

"That was not helping," said Harry

"Sorry mate"

**Catching the look on Harry's face, which promised a beating, he added quickly, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy will be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."**

"Yes, I was actually"

**"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"**

**"Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.**

There was sudden laughter at the unexpected response.

"Excellent advice", said Fred patting Ron on the back.

**"Excuse me."**

**They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.**

**"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.**

"Ron, don't be rude." Said Arthur

**Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry.**

**"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying-"**

Hermione groaned "I was such a pest back then"

"You were not a pest, you just wanted to make friends, it is okay, my love."

**"Bet you could," Ron muttered.**

Ron was glared by all the women in the room, except Hermione and Luna.

**"- and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."**

**"And it's really none of your business," said Harry a bit angry and a bit sad. It was clear she just wanted some friends, but he was still feeling angry with Ron and his acceptance with the duel to remember his manners and be polite.**

Another round of glared for Ron.

"**Good-bye," said Ron.**

**All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later listening to Dean and Seamus falling asleep (Neville wasn't back from the hospital wing). Ron had spent all evening giving him advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them."**

"Useful advice that", laughed Bill.

**There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today. And he was afraid what would happen if he would caught again so soon. His mind went wandering to the Dursleys and all their punishments and he shivered from fear. He hoped Hermione was right, when she told him and their house mates corporeal punishment was banned in Hogwarts. He didn't want to feel a belt so quickly on his back again, his back was still not completely healed from the beatings his uncle gave him some nights before.**

Again everyone was angered by the Dursleys. The Dursleys were even lower sinking than they already were.

**On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness - this was his big chance to beat Malfoy face-to-face. He could prove he was not afraid of him. The boy was a mystery to him, but he fingered out that Malfoy was from another class as him and he was known to power, so he needed to show him he was not afraid, or else he would fail.**

Draco looked at Harry. 'He is a very good reader' thought he

**"Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last, "we'd better go."**

"You'd better stay", warned Molly glaring at her youngest son.

"Mum, me, Harry and Hermione have done things you are not going be happy about, but remember this happened two years ago, we can't change it anymore, so please don't reprimand us anymore for something that happened two years ago."

**They pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their wands, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room, Harry as silent as a ninja. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry."**

**A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe**

Hermione blushed and Harry just smiled at her.

**and a frown.**

**"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"**

**"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy - he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."**

Hermione blushed some more.  
**  
Harry couldn't believe that someone was trying to stop him from doing something against the rules. The Dursleys always tried to make him break the rules, so that they would have a reason to hit him, besides if he was behaving according to the rules, they would hit him too, so he learnt early in life , rules were just fake, in the end it didn't matter, you would get punished anyway.**

The teachers gasped and looked at Harry.

"Is this why you don't listen to the rules, because you think we would punish you anyway?" said Minerva shocked.

Harry nodded softly

"I don't think like that anymore, but in my first year it was like that."

"Oh Harry" and she walked to Harry

"We will not punish you, if you have done nothing wrong, I promise you that."  
**  
**"**Come on," he said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.**

**Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily.**

"One of the reason I love you, your stubbornness."

**She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.**

"Harry, I didn't hissed like an angry goose." While hitting him softly on his arm.

"Yes, you did" said Ron and Harry at the same time.

**"Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."**

Hermione flinched. "Sorry, Harry, that was a bit harsh, I shouldn't have said that, I know Gryffindor means a lot to you."

"It is okay, love, like you said, it is in the past."

**"Go away."**

**"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so-"**

**But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting.**

Tonks laughed at the horrible timing.

"That was not funny, Tonks." Said the golden trio

"Yes, it is."

**The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.**

Minerva signed, 'she really should not do that.'

**"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.**

**"That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."**

**They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.**

**"I'm coming with you," she said.**

**"You are not."**

**"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."**

"Harry would have done it"

"Of course, my love, for you anything."

**"You've got some nerve - " said Ron loudly.**

**"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something." This was not good for his instincts, he was feeling something darkish in the castle. He opened his ears and heard a sort of snuffling**

**"Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.**

**"No," said Harry, he knew the sound of Mrs. Norris, this sound didn't come of her.**

**They walked on and found Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.**

**"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."**

"Oh Mr Longbottom", said Minerva, "You could have come to me and I would have taken you back and give you the password."

Neville blushed, but still said "I will do it next time, Professor."

**"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."**

**"How's your arm?" said Harry.**

"That was sweet of you to remember", smiled Mrs Weasley, and Harry blushed bright red.

**"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."**

"Of course, it was nothing." Said Poppy a little proud.

**"Good - well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later-"**

**"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."**

"That sucks" said Bill and Charlie, which caused their mother to glare at them for their language.

"Sorry, mum"  
**  
**R**on looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.**

**"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you."**

"Hey, that's my curse", Ginny grinned.

**Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies,**

"Yes, I knew the curse and I wanted to tell him, how did you know?"

"I know you, my love."

**but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.**

"I think you really hissed at us, that is the reason we were all so quiet suddenly." Said Neville.

"Sorry"

**They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.**

**Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet.**

Moody's eye narrowed, "He ain't showin' up", he growled.

**The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.**

"Good so, lad, Don't let them have an advantage and curse you when you aren't prepared for an attack. Always be on the alert for attacks, CONSTANT VIGILANCE" the last part was shouted by Moody.

**"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.**

"Actually, Severus caught me and said I was not allowed to leave my dorms, so I couldn't meet you. We, Slytherins, have pride. If we make a deal, we will honour that."

**Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak - and it wasn't Malfoy.**

**"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."**

"Filch!" Cried several the children, including Sirius and Remus.

**It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice.**

"Don't give away your position and don't panic in this situation."

**Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.**

**"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."**

**"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified,**

Harry noticed Hermione and Ginny wince/ flinch slightly.

Bill was looking at his little sister. What happened in her first year? He knew something had happened, but even his parents hadn't told him. They only said it was dealt with and Ginny could have a fresh start in her second year on Hogwarts. He wondered all summer what could have happened, but because he was in Egypt all the time, he didn't have much time to follow news out Britain. He would have to wait to the next book to found out the truth.

Next to him his brother Charlie was thinking the same time, he also wondered about Ginny's first year, but he was also worried about the moment that his mother would discover he had helped Ron to get a illegal dragon back to Romania. He was probably screwed, but he could always hide behind his older brother.

**they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor.**

"Oh brilliant timing", applauded the Twins, while Moody was murmuring about 'not giving your position away.'

**The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.**

**"RUN!" Harry yelled,**

"Subtle" said the twins"

Harry just smiled at them devilishly, which caused the twins to winch a little bit.

**and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following - they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, leading them as far as he could away from the danger of Filch and a horrible punishment - they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.**

"You have run a very long end"

**"I think we've lost him," Harry already recovering from the run, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead from the little sweat what had formed there. He was used too running, so he had developed the habit of power run, he could run very hard and recover in a very short amount of time, so he could do it almost immediately again in one of the cases Dudley and his friends closed in at him.**

**Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.**

"That is embarrassing," said Neville,

"No, Neville, if you would train very day a hour, you would turn your body in muscle. You just have to want it, and it will help you in a duel."

"I think I will do that, Harry, thanks."

**"I - told - you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I - told - you."**

**"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."**

**"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you - Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."**

**Harry thought she was probably right, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He was embarrassed, he thought the Slytherin had a certain pride and that was part of the reason he went. He thought that Slytherin wouldn't dishonour a duel like that, clearly he was wrong. He had thought better of the pride snakes.**

Draco and Severus looked shocked at Harry.

"How do you know all that?"

"Instinct and looking." Said Harry like it would explain everything and it sort of did when Harry said it like that.

**"Let's go."**

**It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.**

**It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.**

"Oh no", was heard from several people in the room, most of the adults were groaning. Harry couldn't ever got a break from danger, no, with his luck, this night was going be even worse than this encounter with Peeves.

**"Shut up, Peeves - please - you'll get us thrown out."**

**Peeves cackled.**

**"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."**

**"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."**

**"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."**

**"Get out of the way," snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves**

"Wrong move", tutted the Twins.

"Yes, that was wrong. Peeves wouldn't betray us until you did that. He loves people who are out of bed at night, if you are a prankster, he will even help you sometimes. The reason he would helped us is because of my dad, he still is remembered by Peeves." Said Harry

"Sorry, Harry, I wasn't thinking."

**this was a big mistake.**

**"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"**

"Like I said, bad idea."

**Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door - and it was locked.**

The teachers paled when they realised where they were. 'At least," thought they, 'it was locked. Dumbledore would even protected it with powerful charms and spells to prevent it from opening for those first years.

But Minerva was worried, how did they escape Filch that night? They weren't caught that night, so how did they get safely back in the tower?

**"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!"**

"Ronnie is afraid for the mean old janitor" said Fred in a whining voice.

"Fred, don't bother your brother." Said Molly

Fred was pouting, but from the inside he was still glad his mother could finally see the differences between him and his brother.

**They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves's shouts.**

**"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"**

**The lock clicked and the door swung open**

Minerva turned angrily, "Alohomora? That was a brilliant protection. A first year spell in fact. No dark wizard would ever use that", she said sarcastically.

Albus cringed a little bit. An angry Minerva was never pleased, but it was all for the Greater Good.

**- they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.**

**"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."**

**"Say 'please.'"**

Sirius was laughing, you could count on Peeves, when you were a prankster.

**"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go ?"**

**"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.**

**"All right - please."**

**"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.**

**"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay - get off, Neville!" For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe for the last minute. "What ?"**

**Harry turned around - and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare - this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far.**

"What? What is it?" Shouted several people who didn't know this part of the story.

Neville paled a little bit, remembering the giant dog that night.

Ron and Harry moved a little bit apart from Molly, so that they would be a little safer, when she would explode.

**They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.**

The same people who wondered what happened, sat a little bit forward in their sits. _**  
**_**  
They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads.**

"You kept a Cerberus in a school with children?" Shouted Amelia.

"MY CHILDREN WERE IN THERE, HOW COULD YOU ALBUS, MINERVA? HOW COULD YOU ALLOW THIS? WHAT IF SOMETHING SERIOUS HAPPEND TO MY CHILDREN?" yelled Molly at the teachers and the headmaster, who were all backing down a bit from the angry mother.

Harry was still a little shocked he was included in the family from the Weasleys. He was glad he finally get a own family, one who would help him and protect him and guide him and comfort him.

Sirius and Remus were growling at the teachers, both with the shadow of a beast on their face, Remus might not be a werewolf anymore, but he was still a wolf animagus and he could still growl like the wolf inside of him. Sirius was a grim and he could also growl very good. Sirius and Remus just sat closer to Harry and made sure they both touched their godson/nephew.

**Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.**

**It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.**

**Harry groped for the doorknob - between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.**

**"Good choice, if you didn't chose that, we would take you to the mind healer and get you healed up nicely." Said Sirius.**

**They fell backward - Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared - all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster.**

"And yet he goes back", sighed Minerva.

"That was, because I thought I needed to go there, it is not my fault."

This confused all the people who weren't aware of what happened in the trio's first year, but they didn't asked what they meant. They figured they would find out, when it was mentioned in the book.

**They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.**

**"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.**

"You'd think she would have told someone", scowled Severus.

"The Fat Lady never tells when a student is out of the common room, she is also a prankster and she loves a great prank" said all the pranksters in the room, including Harry.

**"Never mind that - pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.**

**It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.**

"It was on my minds, yes" said Neville with a smile on his face, him holding hands with Ginny, which caught Molly's eye. She just smiled, she was glad for her baby girl, that she put the bad things behind her and move on, but she would need to wait some few more years for dating a boy, at least fifteen unlike she could date. Not knowing next to her, her husband was having sort of the same thoughts about his little girl.

**"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."**

That last sentence made everyone laugh, they couldn't help it. It was certainly something Ron would say in that situation and it was very funny.  
**  
****Hermione had got both her breath and her slightly arrogance back again. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?**

"Three headed dog and you look at the floor", grinned Bill.

"The truth is that I was too scared to look at his heads, so I just kept looking at the floor." Said Hermione with a slight blush, causing Harry to kiss her on the blushing cheeks.

**"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads." But Harry had seen something under the dog's feet. He was standing on a trapdoor, but he didn't told her that. this was her moment.**

**"Harry James Potter, You will show your real potential this year and complete with me fair and square, understand mister."**

**"Yes, my love, for you everything."**

**"No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."**

The teachers almost as one groaned. And the curiosity will began.

**She stood up, glaring at them.**

**"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled.**

"Priorities, Hermione", scowled Ron.

"Yes, Miss Granger, that is not the right order" said Minerva, Severus and Albus.

Hermione was blushing again.

**Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."**

**Ron stared after her, his mouth open.**

**"No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you."**

"Sorry"

"It is okay."

**But Hermione was right. The dog was guarding something... What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide – except perhaps Hogwarts.**

"Oh for the love of Merlin", grumbled Minerva, "How does he notice it all?"

"My instincts and my ears." Said Harry, startling Minerva a bit. She had be whispering and she thought he didn't hear her, but apparently he did. He had really a talent for this and Minerva couldn't decide it was a good or bad thing.

**It looked as though Harry had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.**

**"That is the end of the chapter" said Charlie, closing the book.**

Molly looked at the clock and saw it was already four o clock.

"We will take a little snack for you and then we will read two chapters before dinner and after that two chapters and then we will go to bed."

The room provided the food the house elves had made for them, the only beings who weren't frozen in time to help the people in the room with things the room couldn't provide with them.

The adults sat together on the long table, who had suddenly appeared, on one side and the children sat on the other side. They all took something to drink, the adults mostly coffee or tea and the children pumpkin juice and something to eat. The house elves had made some little sandwiches, some sweets for the children and some fruit.

Harry took a bowl and took some bananas, apples, strawberries, raspberries and blue berries. He was enjoying it very much, he also had loved fruit, but he was never allowed it at the Dursleys very often, only when his relatives had something over and then it was mostly rotten. The first time he had eaten fresh fruit was on Hogwarts and it was still one of his favourite things to eat. After he was done, he took some sweets and put them in his secret stash in a pocket in his t-shirt, he made a secret place to hide things. He knew he wouldn't starve here, but old habits die hard.

After everyone had eaten something they went back to the couches.

Percy took the book and opened it to the right chapter, called

**_"Chapter 10 Halloween" _**

**A.n note**

**Hello, here I am again with another chapter. My exams ended today, so I wrote this for you guys, because I had suddenly inspiration for this chapter. I hope you like that. Please review and tell me what you think of the chapter. Tell me please things you like or things you hate, so I can work on that. The next chapter is going be Halloween and I got some ideas, that chapter is going be changed, I think about rewriting the troll scene a bit, but I am not sure about the how yet, but look forward to it. I would like to thank everyone for their reviews who have sent them, most were very positive and helpful. I have the next two weeks free until I hear if I will graduate, so I will probably get some chapters down. My other story will also be updated very soon, probably tomorrow or the day after that.**

**Well, I am done talking now, please have a great night/day and thank you for reading my story.**

**Bye-bye **


	13. Chapter 12 halloween

**Text = book**

Text= reactions on book and normal conversations

'text'= thoughts

_**Text=letters and spells**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters in it. **_

Percy opened the book to the right page and read the title _"Chapter 10; Halloween"_

Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.

"I thought they would get caught for sure. I never thought you would have such an adventure in one night." Said Draco.

"It is okay, it was fun."

Indeed, by next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure and they were quite keen to have another one. Well Ron was keen to have another one, Harry was just too glad they weren't found and punished. He had always loved exploring and adventures, in the past it was to escape Dudley and his gang, but later it was because he loved learning and discovering new things, but still he feared the punishments, so he always tried to repress his natural self to avoid pain.

"Harry, they will get punish and you can finally be yourself." Said Hermione.

The adults, including Remus and Sirius, had tears in their eyes. The Dursleys were monsters.

In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.

"Or both," said Neville.

"Or both," said Harry.

"Hey Neville, you are thinking like Harrikins over here" said Fred laughing.

But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Neville or Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.

Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, and while Ron saw that as an added bonus, Harry was having pains in his heart. It hurt him that Hermione was not talking to him, but every time he tried to talk with her, Ron was there with him and Hermione would walk away.

"Sorry, mate, I didn't knew that."

"It is okay, Ron."

Hermione was very deep thinking. Harry was hurting, because she didn't want to talk with him. How is that possible?

The teachers were having similar thoughts as Hermione about Harry.

All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived with the post about a week later.

As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.

Harry ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:

_DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE._

"You know professor – everyone knew it was a broomstick by the shape of the package. It was kind of a moot point for you to tell him not to open it at the table," Tonks said cheekily. McGonagall only sighed in response.

_It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch pitch at seven o'clock for your first training session._

_Professor M. McGonagall_

Harry had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Ron to read.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."

They left the Hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first lesson, but halfway across the Entrance Hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.

"Mr. Malfoy, look with your eyes, not your hands." Said Minerva sternly

"Yes, Professor." Said Draco with a pinkish blush on his cheeks.

"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them."

Ron couldn't resist it.

"Of course, he couldn't" said the Weasley children, except for Ron.

"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig."

"I am really very sorry" said Draco, bowing to the Weasleys. "I will find a way to atone for all my wrongdoings to you."

Arthur looked at his wife and he saw the understanding in her eyes, the need to help. His wife also loved taking care of the needed.

He stood up and walked to Draco, who was still bowing.

"Draco Malfoy, you don't have to atone for anything. We know the truth now and we have decided that you aren't to blame, but your father. The first two book are about the past, so we can't change that, but the next few books are from the future and we can change that. So don't worry about it, we will begin today with a new slack for you and for us."

Draco looked up and saw only honesty in Arthur's eyes and said "Thank you very much, Mr. Weasley."

"Call me Arthur, Draco. Mr. Weasley is my father."

This caused Draco to laugh and the people in the room were happy to hear the innocent laughter of a child.

Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.

"Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.

"Dray is jealous of the famous Harrikins" said Fred and George with a whining voice.

Which caused Draco to blush, Molly to scold her twins and the other people to laugh in the room.

"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"

"Your face was brilliant that moment, man I wished I had made a photo of it." said Ron smiling.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added.

This caused the Blacks to laugh the loudest from all the people in the room and fell on the ground

Harry and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.

They had no problem now and went in a laughing fit.

"Well, it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be in the team …"

"I am glad me and my Remembrall were off service to you, Mister Potter." Said Neville in the most pompous voice ever heard.

Harry and the twins looked shocked at Neville, before laughing so hard, the three fell of their chairs on the ground. The rest, who know Neville were also shocked, and the ones who didn't know Neville just smiled at the joke.

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry with pain in his chest again and in a small voice.

"Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's doing us so much good."

Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.

"How in Merlin pants have you become friends?" asked Tonks, "Harry is trying, but Ron here is not very good with friend making skills."

The trio looked at each other and said at the same time "It is a secret."

Which made half of the room groan.

Harry had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory, where his new broomstick was lying under his bed, or straying off to the Quidditch pitch where he'd be learning to play that night. He bolted his dinner that evening without noticing what he was eating and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last.

"Wow," Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled on to Harry's bedspread.

Even Harry, who knew nothing about the different brooms,

"The tragedy!" Sirius and the twins mock-moaned.

"What would Oliver say when he heard that." Said the twins.

thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.

Harry smiled. It was his faithful broom after all.

As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry left the castle and set off towards the Quidditch pitch in the dusk. He'd never been inside the stadium before.

Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the pitch so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Harry of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high.

"I thought of that too!" Hermione said with a smile, happy that she had something else in common with Harry.

Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling – he swooped in and out of the goalposts and then sped up and down the pitch. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch.

"Hey, Potter, come down!"

Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to him.

"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting.

"Back away slowly when you see his eyes glinting," Harry couldn't help but say. Every time Oliver's eyes glinted in the past, his body hurt a lot after he was done flying. Minerva couldn't help but silently agree with him.

"I see what McGonagall meant … you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."

He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.

"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers."

"Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a football.

"Finally something I could shine in" murmured Harry, thinking no one heard him, but Hermione and Remus had heard him and Remus said

"Cub, you are allowed to shine in everything you are good at. Hide no more your true self and just be free. We want you to shine, we will allow you to shine, don't worry about others, just be yourself and we will be happy."

Harry nodded.

"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"

"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited. "So – that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"

"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.

The question was also on the mind of all the purebloods in the room. Arthur added it to his list.

"Never mind," said Harry quickly.

"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper – I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."

"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. OK, got that. So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box.

"I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."

He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a rounders bat.

"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers."

He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.

"Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.

At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it breaking his nose and sent it zig-zagging away into the air

"Nice!" said George

"You would also be a nice beater, Harry."

– it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.

"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team. The Weasley twins are ours – it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them towards the other team. So – think you've got all that?"

"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goalposts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off.

"Very good," said Wood.

"Er – have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand.

"You probably didn't," Hermione teased.

"Oh shut up, my wise girl."

"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers –"

"– unless they crack my head open."

"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers – I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."

The twins looked as one at each other and stood up as one, they both their arms in the air and shouted at the same time.

"Nice meeting all of you here, we are the human Bludgers of the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

Molly was scolding her twins, but with a smile on her face and the others in the room were laughing.

Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.

"My ball." Said Harry with a smile.

"This," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages – I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep.

"Well, that's it – any questions?"

Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.

"Not really, mate," Ron said, shaking his head.

"We won't practise with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate. "It's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."

He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket, and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.

Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.

"That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year,"

"Sorry, guys," Harry sighed, knowing that he was unconscious at the time of the game.

"It is okay, Harry. it is not your fault."

said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."

Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realised that he'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive had ever done. His lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.

On Hallowe'en morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practise. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye).

"Sorry, Neville," Harry apologized to his friend. Neville just waved his apology away, knowing that almost everyone in the Gryffindor tower tried to avoid being his partner in practical classes. It often happened that he blew the spell and his partners would end up having one or two extra appendages.

Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!"

squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

"Sirius tried that once," Remus said with a smirk towards his friend.

"Yeah, professor, it didn't work at all."

Filius smiling at his former student, he never really believed Sirius was the betrayer, he had saw the bond he had with James and Remus. He would never betray them, he would rather die than betray them. He was glad he was finally a free man.

It was very difficult to pretend he was so bad in school. He had already practiced this charm in his own time and had mastered it. He had found a way that no matter how he swished and flicked, the feather would not fly. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it.

"He usually sets stuff on fire when his spell goes haywire," Ron chuckled. Harry grinned at the mention of his pyromaniac friend.

– Harry had to put it out with his hat.

Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"I don't think that's going to work," Tonks said with a shake of her head. Ron blushed.

"You're saying it wrong," Harry heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"That's not going to end well, I can feel it in the air, I can feel it in the water," Sirius sing-sang.

"Shut up," Ron mumbled.

"I am sorry, Hermione"

"It is okay, Ron, it is okay. I shouldn't have snapped. It was not the best way to explain it to you. "

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

"You shouldn't have said that," Remus said hoarsely.

"No, Remus and Lily would always prove me that." Said Sirius with a sad smile thinking about his best friend's red haired wife.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Ron was in a very bad temper by the end of the class.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor. "She's a nightmare, honestly."

"You really shouldn't have said that either," Tonks said, frowning a bit at Ron.

"I know! I already apologized!" Ron snapped, feeling embarrassed.

Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione.

Harry caught a glimpse of her face – and was startled to see that she was in tears. He felt a soaring pain in his chest and a rage he never felt before in his chest. Ron had made her cry, he made his Hermione cry. He wanted to hurt him for hurting her, but before he could move a muscle, someone bumped into him and his thoughts disappeared. He quickly composed himself and said calmly.

The adults were shocked. Those two had a bond like they had heard before. It was very special. They wondered how that bond would develop.

Hermione was looking at Harry shocked, but instead of thinking and talking, she just kissed him and hugged him.

Ron was also shocked that Harry would try to protect Hermione like that, but he then that if that had been Luna, he would have been the same. He took Luna's hand and squeezed it softly. Luna had still her dreamy look, but then it was added with a look of love for him. She smiled at him and he felt complete.

"I think she heard you."

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"Ronald" yelled Molly and Arthur at the same time, which was very uncommon, because Arthur usually left the shooting to Molly.

Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. Harry didn't want to go to the feast, but he thought it couldn't get any worse than this and maybe Hermione was there. But his hope was shattered when they went down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast and they overhead Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' toilets and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but Harry felt a sadness he never felt before. He wanted to go to search for her, but they had reached the Great Hall and Ron took his arm and made him sit down next to him, already forgetting Hermione with thoughts of the decorations and food swimming through his mind.

Molly and Minerva just gave Ron stern glares and Hermione and Harry were once again hugging.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Harry was just miserably helping himself to a jacket potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the Hall, his turban askew and terror on his face.

Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table and gasped, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

"That man was the defense against the dark arts teacher. I am scared for the students who I will be teaching. I hope the second year teacher was a lot better and that the students have learnt something before I am working with them."

He looked at the children who had the two teachers, but the children just looked away and Harry said

"You will found that out from this and the next book, Moony"

There was uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

"Where did the Slytherins go? Isn't their common room in the dungeons?" asked Harry

"I will not ask how you know that, but in an emergency the prefects will lead the students to the library." Answered Severus.

Percy was in his element.

The younger Weasley children groaned, while Percy looked a little sad. He just wanted to make his siblings and parents proud, but they always made jokes about him and didn't trust him like they did with Bill and Charlie.

Molly and Arthur noticed their son sigh and felt for him. they knew he wanted his siblings respect, but they also knew he could get a little pompous.

"Follow me! Stick together, first-years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

"Peeves wouldn't do something like that," Dumbledore said calmly.

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.

" Hermione."

"You're going to go after her, aren't you," Tonks said, while Harry hugged Hermione tightly.

"What about her?"

"She doesn't know about the troll."

Ron bit his lip.

"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off towards the girls' toilets. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

"Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large stone griffin.

Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

Severus was surprised. He hadn't noticed them and thought that nobody had seen him. no wonder he was such an easy target in their minds. His actions probably only fuelled their suspicions about him.

"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?" His instincts flared, he was trying to do something good or something bad. His instincts couldn't tell him that, but he know he would need to observe his teacher some more.

"Search me."

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.

"Can you smell something?"

Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.

"That is disgusting" said all the children, who weren't there.

And then they heard it – a low grunting and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed: at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

The oldest Weasleys and all the adults were getting paler. It was the troll and they were so close to it.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

"The key's in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in." Ignoring his instincts to do the composite from that.

Hermione and Ron groaned. Harry should always trust his instincts, those were the reason they were still alive.

"Good idea," said Ron nervously.

They edged towards the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door and lock it.

"Yes!"

Minerva and Severus leaned a little bit closer, they always wanted to know what had really happened that night. They hadn't believed the lie Hermione had told them.

Flushed with their victory they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop – a high, petrified scream – and it was coming from the chamber they'd just locked up.

"Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.

"It's the girls' toilets!" Harry gasped, with his heart being torn in two.

"Hermione!" they said together.

It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic – Harry pulled the door open – they ran inside.

Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

"You'll see Harry thinking on his feet now, instead of bumbling along with a plan," Hermione said, trying to lift the tension in the room that suddenly grew. Sirius threw her a quick grin, but became serious once again from worry. He knew that Harry and his friends were all right, but he still couldn't stop himself from worrying.

"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, calling his magic in his body out of him, summoning wandless two taps to him, Ron was so shocked he never noticed it all, he seized the taps and put magic in it to make it stronger and harder and threw the first tap against the wall and when the troll turned his head around, he threw the second tap as hard as he could against the troll's shoulder.

The troll stopped walking to Hermione and turned around completely to face Harry with a roar, lifting its club as it went. His mean little eyes full with rage looking at the small thing that dared to hurt him.

Ron had walked around the troll and yelled "Oy pea-brain!" from the other side of the chamber, turning to distract the troll. He threw a metal pipe at the same spot as Harry had done. The troll turned around, he had heard some noise, but when Ron had hurt the troll in the same spot as Harry, he paused and turned its ugly snout towards Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it towards Hermione.

"Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her towards the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.

"Hermione isn't very good when she is faced with a dangerous situation. Her mind shuts down." Said Harry with a smile, causing Hermione to hit him playfully on his arm.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started towards Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape. Ron turned his head trying to found an escape, not founding one, his face became calm, like he was accepting his death that easily.

"What?!" yelled Molly, "What did it mean, accepting his death? You weren't thinking you would die, right Ron."

The silence that followed answered the question better than any answer.

Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid:

"He usually does that." Said half of the room.

He once again focused his magic and put them in his legs and arms, he took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped and a troll doesn't like a long bit of wood in one of his nostrils. Without wand, Harry focused his magic and began attacking the troll with his magic, trying to give Ron time to escape.

"Gross"

The adults were listening with shock.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life, still attacking the troll with his magic; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club. But he held on, he needed to protect Hermione and Ron. His own life never crossed his mind, he just thought about one things and that was protecting them and only them.

That made the room sad. It was not good that a boy would discard his own life so easily, but would fight for others so easily. They needed to learn him a lot, but they wouldn't stop until he knew everyone in his room would cry over him if he would die in one of those actions of him. he had now people who loved him and they would be sure that he would know that, that he never would be alone ever again.

Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand – not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The twins yelling "But you don't even know how to do that spell." In fright, even if they saw their little brother sitting a few meter from them, just the thought of him getting hurt was frightening to them and something they never wanted to think about.

Harry sent his magic to help Ron's magic and together they sent the club flying out of the troll's hand, make it rose high, high up into the air, made it turn slowly over—and dropped, with a sickening crack, on to its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble, Harry landing on his arm and he heard the arm break.

"Well," said Remus, white as a ghost, "that's one way of defeating a mountain troll."

Sirius was not much better and he just had to look at Harry to convince himself, he was truly alive and sitting next to him.

Poppy was silently fuming, he never went to her that night.

The teachers said

"Harry, when you are injured, you will tell one of the teachers and we will guide to the infirmary. Poppy can heal you very easily, you will not deal with us on your one anymore."

Percy waited with reading until Harry had promised it to all the people in the room.

Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath, he had used his magic very intense. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what they had done.

It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Is it – dead?"

"I don't think so," said Harry, already breathing normally, holding his broken arm with his other arm. "I think it's just been knocked out."

"And he said it so calmly, as if it was an everyday occurrence for him," Hermione said with a grimace. He never told them he had broken his arm.

"That's Harry for you," said Neville who now knew what the blue light in the dorm made that day. It was probably Harry healing himself.

Harry just looked at his girlfriend and friend.

He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

"Urgh – troll bogies."

He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

"I hope you have cleaned your wand better the just to wipe them on those troll's trousers." Said Minerva.

"Of course, I asked one of the older Gryffindors to help me with the cleaning spell."

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. Harry had felt three people coming running towards them, but he could hardly repress the flinch who had come. Harry had thought someone had to come, because of racket they had made, those crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, he saw it had been right. First come Professor McGonagall bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape and with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Remus was heard murmuring "Pathetic man" under his breath.

Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind and punishments filled his mind and fear he never felt before. Even more fear he felt for Uncle Vernon and that was saying something.

"I am sorry, Harry, for making you scared."

"It is okay, it is no biggie."

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air, flinched a little bit because of that voice, remembering the same fury once in his uncle voice before he got the worst beating from his life, the night he met his mother.

Minerva looked maybe even worse than a few seconds again.

"You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. He wished Ron would put his wand down.

"Sorry, mate."

Then a small voice came out of the shadows.

"Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.

"I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them."

Sirius had only just met this girl, but he knew from the book telling she was a child who would never lie to an authority figure on her own. This was special and probably the beginning of their friendship.

Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?

'Yeah, just what I thought' thought Sirius in a very precious moment of adultness.

"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.

"It didn't work for Mister Weasley, but Harry had a very convincing face" said Severus with a smile.

"Well – in that case …" said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets. His heart leap in the air, she defended them.

Sirius was laughing out the picture in his head from Severus handing out sweets.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

Hermione left.

Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron. Harry feeling very scared about another punishment.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points.

"Only five? I would have awarded them at least fifty and gave them an award for Special Services to the school! They did get rid of a mountain troll that was threatening it after all," Sirius started complaining.

"They directly disobeyed the Headmaster's order for them to go back to their dormitories," McGonagall said sternly.

"If they hadn't, Hermione would have died. No one thought that the troll would go there, they thought it was in the dungeons. The professors wouldn't have made it to the bathroom on time," Sirius kept up his ranting.

McGonagall kept quiet. When he put it that way...

Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have got more than ten points," Ron grumbled.

"Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."

"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.

They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Pig snout," they said and entered.

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks", and hurried off to get plates.

But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.

That night Harry closed his curtain under his bed and allowed the blue grow he heal his broken arm and after it was done he fell in sleep. He was so exhausted that he slept through the whole night without any nightmares at all. It was probably the longest sleep he ever had in his life.

Percy closed the book and said "that is the end of the chapter, who would like to read now?"

Fred raised his hand and opened the book to the right chapter

"**Chapter 11 Quidditch" **

a.n Hello everyone, here is another chapter for this story, sorry it is so late, I know I promised it sooner, but I was sick and yesterday I hurt my ankle, so I got now some time to work on it, with my ankle up a cushion, resting. It isn't a very long chapter and I tried to write a great scene with the troll, but I am not sure if it is very good. Please review and tell me what you think about the new scene. Have a nice day and hope you will return for another chapter of this story.


	14. Chapter 14

a.n Sorry, Someone has said my story is copied, Fanfiction wants to threw it from the site. I will delete his story, but I am post it under another name. I have changed some things in the story and mostly in the first chapter, where the most complaint were over. I hope it is now okay, my story is not copied and if there are things that someone recognize, then that is my fault. I have read a dozen of story and all those stories are a source of inspiration for me, sometimes I have a certain thing in my head, it can be it is from another story, but that I can't remember. I just write my story my way. I hope you will continue with the story under the new name and follow it also.

I will post it under the name

"Hp characters read the Sorcerer's stone"

That way I can make each book another story. Please forgive me for the inconvenience, but fanfiction is really killing my stories every time, because someone complains wrongly. I will try it one more time, before I will put it on another site. If you have tips for other great site I can put it on, please PM me and I will also put it on there, maybe it is a better idea.

MonkeydLuffy1512


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